Skip to main content
020 3510 0312 jennifer.adger@hsjinformation.co.uk

May, Powis and Hartley given top Jubilee honours

Published on: 2 Jun 2022

NHS England’s national medical director and chief nurse are among the health service staff who have been recognised for their services in the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Honours List.

Stephen Powis, who has been national medical director since 2018, is to receive a knighthood, while chief nursing officer Ruth May has been made a dame. Julian Hartley, Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust chief, is also to be knighted. 

Professor Powis said he was “truly honoured” to receive the award, which “reflects the passion, focus and sheer determination of NHS staff during the pandemic, as we tackled the biggest health threat of a generation”.

Ms May said she accepted the award “on behalf of the nursing and midwifery professions who use their expertise to care for us throughout every stage of our lives in hospitals, in our homes and in the community each and every day”.

Also on the honours list are Birmingham Women and Children’s Trust CEO Sarah Jane Marsh and NHSE North East and Yorkshire Director Richard Barker, who are both receiving a CBE.

Mr Barker, who also oversees the North West following the departure of Amanda Doyle to a national NHSE role, said: “Few achievements are those of a single individual and this is a reflection of the wonderful support I have been fortunate to enjoy from my own family and the wider NHS family, both past and present.”

Other names from healthcare leadership who are also recognised in the honours include:

  • A knighthood for outgoing Royal College of Physicians president Andrew (Bod) Goddard.
  • Zoe Billingham, former HM Inspector of Fire and Rescue Services and now Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust chair, receiving a CBE;
  • Michael Brodie, NHS Business Services Authority chief executive, receiving a CBE;
  • Nick Carver, former East and North Herfordshire Trust chief executive and now Nottingham University Hospitals Trust chair, receiving an OBE;
  • Frank Collins, former Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital FT chair, receiving an OBE;
  • Sean Duggan, chief executive of NHS Confederation’s Mental Health Network, receiving an OBE;
  • Andrew Furber, North West regional public health director, receiving an OBE; 
  • Sheena Cumiskey, former Chesire and Wirral Partnership FT chief, receiving an MBE; and
  • Angela Knight Jackson, NHSE’s deputy director for nursing professional development, receiving an MBE.

Frontline NHS staff are also being recognised for their services during covid, including 26,000 paramedics who will receive one-off Platinum Jubilee Medals.