Respected nurse leader Baroness Mary Watkins has stepped down from her role as president of nursing and midwifery charity the Florence Nightingale Foundation.
Baroness Watkins of Tavistock, a cross-bench peer in the Lords, has been president of the charity that provides leadership programmes and scholarships for the past seven years.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to be president for seven years and to see the foundation develop and grow”
Mary Watkins
She stepped down at the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s annual general meeting on Tuesday 12 September, citing other commitments.
While it seeks to appoint a new president, the foundation’s vice-president, Avery Bhatia, will serve as interim president. Ms Bhatia is chief nurse at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Baroness Watkins has over 45 years’ experience in a wide variety of nursing of nursing and leadership roles, and is an international expert in nursing and healthcare workforce.
Earlier this year, she featured on a list of 75 nurses and midwives who have contributed significantly to the NHS, which was compiled by Nursing Times to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the service.
In a statement, the foundation said that, during the baroness’ was president, it had “grown and evolved under her guidance to meet the needs of our nurses and midwives today”.
Baroness Watkins said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to be president for seven years and to see the foundation develop and grow.
“The focus on all branches of nursing, and scholarships increasingly being awarded to nurses and midwives from all groups of society has been a particular pleasure to be associated with during my period of tenure.
“I remain fully committed to supporting the foundation in the future and want to thank everyone who has been involved in making the FNF such a success during this period,” she said.
Simon Gillespie, chair of the charity, said: “Baroness Watkins has been an outstanding president, guide, mentor, and friend for the Florence Nightingale Foundation for the last seven years.
“Under her stewardship, the foundation has weathered the challenges of austerity and the Covid-19 pandemic, to innovate its approach, and broaden and extend its influence as a leading voice in developing nursing and midwifery leadership in the UK and across the world.”
Baroness Watkins qualified as a general nurse in 1976 and a mental health nurse in 1979, going on to work in community and in-patient mental health acute settings.
She was awarded a Florence Nightingale Foundation Scholarship in 1985 and latterly moved into the education sector, holding a number of senior university roles and acting as a policy advisor.
She is also currently alternate chair of Nursing Now, a global initiative to raise the profile of nursing, and was co-chair of the 2020 World Health Organisation’s review of the State of the World Nursing.