We are pleased to announce that Dr Caroline Johnson has been successfully appointed executive director of nursing, quality and professions at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust after a robust values-led recruitment process.

A registered nurse, Caroline has extensive experience of working in the NHS across mental health, acute care, in an ICB and education. 

Salma Yasmeen, chief executive at Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “I’m delighted to announce that Caroline will be joining SHSC as our executive director of nursing, professions and quality. Caroline’s breadth and depth of experience, together with her compassionate, inclusive and values-based leadership approach to driving quality and safety across nursing and allied health professions, will support SHSC in driving forward a transformative agenda over the next few years. I’m really looking forward to working closely with her.”

Dr Caroline Johnson said: “I’m delighted to be appointed to the role of executive director of nursing, quality and professions on a permanent basis. I’ve already seen so much drive, passion and determination at our Trust to support and care for people who have mental health, learning disability and autism needs in Sheffield. I’m looking forward to supporting and enabling that commitment to quality in the weeks and months to come.”

Caroline Johnson is a registered nurse (mental health) with more than 30 years' experience across a range of NHS, independent sector, and educational roles. Clinically she worked for many years as a CBT and family interventions therapist for people and their families living with psychosis.

She established the therapy service within the Early Intervention Service across Lancashire and set up three early psychosis detection clinics. She also worked as a CBT therapist in a Crisis Home Treatment Service. In 2013 she was awarded her PhD from the University of Manchester for her research in early psychosis detection. 

Caroline was a deputy clinical director in Lancashire for adult mental health inpatient care, crisis and home treatment and A&E liaison. During her time in this role, she was the project lead for an ambitious bed transformation project which aimed to reduce out of area treatments, through reductions in length of stay and admissions. The project successfully reduced admissions, length of stay and out of area treatments, enabling the safe closure of 22 beds in preparation for the move to a new build hospital.

More recently, she has worked in assistant and deputy director roles, in both a mental health and an acute trust with portfolio responsibility for quality governance and quality improvement. She is a Health Foundation fellow, having successfully completed the generation Q, leadership, and QI programme at Ashridge HULT Business School. During her time as assistant director of quality at Humber NHS Foundation Trust, Caroline was shortlisted for a HSJ Patient Safety Award for her work on safety huddles.

During her time as deputy director of quality governance and patient safety, at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (acute Trust), Caroline also led the development of a joint mental health strategy between the Trust and the local mental health provider, Tees Esk and Wear Valley. She is passionate about improving the experience of care for people receiving care in acute hospitals who also have co-morbid mental health conditions.

In her last role Caroline was deputy director of nursing for York Place within Humber and North Yorkshire ICB. In addition to her role at Place she held portfolio accountability for patient safety, and experience of care across the ICB. She also led a programme of work to reduce length of stay of people living with dementia within the acute Trust. In addition she used her extensive experience of CQC compliance to develop a CQC ready programme for GP practices across York and north Yorkshire.