Current NHIVNA Committee

Committee Biographies

Nathaniel Ault
Chair 2010 – 2013
I am a Consultant HIV Nurse in London with 21 years’ experience in HIV, covering community, palliative and acute HIV nursing. My work within NHIVNA started with involvement in writing the NHIVNA National HIV Nursing Competencies and then serving on the Executive Committee, initially as a co-opted member in 2007 and then as an elected member in 2008. I have served as the Chair of the Conference Subcommittee during that time.

As the Chair of NHIVNA, I see my role as leading the continuing development and support that NHIVNA provides to its membership, chairing the annual Away Day meeting and chairing the Executive Committee meetings.

Catrin Evans
Honorary Treasurer 2009 – 2012
I am a lecturer in Nursing and International Health at Nottingham University, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy. I am Director of our PhD programme and am also involved in teaching HIV, sexual health, public health/health promotion and qualitative research methods on a range of under- and post graduate programmes. A major part of my role involves supervising PhD and MSc research dissertations, most of which are focused on HIV-related topics. Many of my students are nurses from overseas and it is a privilege to learn from them about HIV care in a wide range of countries.

I have been involved in HIV nursing since qualifying in 1990 and have worked in the UK, Germany, India, Nepal, Thailand and Kenya. Much of this latter work abroad was as a consultant with international health and HIV agencies, and involved research and policy analysis related to community-based HIV prevention initiatives. Together with NHIVNA colleagues, I am currently contributing to a book, Advanced Clinical Practice in HIV Care. I also spend one afternoon per week running an HIV testing and asymptomatic screening service with the Terrence Higgins Trust in Nottingham.

Samantha Mabey-Puttock
Honorary Secretary 2011 – 2014
From 1992 I worked at St Stephen’s at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, mostly in Kobler Daycare with patients with advanced HIV disease, gaining expertise in managing opportunistic infections. In 1998 I took on a Specialist Nurse role in Manchester and have since then helped develop a complex in- and outpatient service that supports over 1000 patients.

I have been a member of NHIVNA since its inception and co-ordinated the North West HIV group for 10 years.

Juliet Bennett
BSc, Diploma Health Promotion, RGN
I have 20 years’ HIV nursing experience in a variety of settings, including leading the development of adherence support services at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. For the last four years, I have worked independently in a consultancy capacity to the NHS, pharmaceutical industry and in healthcare-related education.

Jane Bruton
I am the Clinical Nurse Lead for HIV at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, with managerial and professional responsibility for the nurses working within HIV Outpatients, Day Care and Inpatients, the specialist nurses, women’s health advisors and more recently one CNS in the community.

I have both an operational and strategic role with regard to service provision and future developments. In addition, I have lead responsibility within the directorate for patient involvement, clinical governance and the development of HIV nursing roles.

Jayne Churchill
I am a qualified RGN/RMN and have spent the majority of my career working in HIV nursing. I qualified as an RGN in 1986, working in both the north east and south east of England in various medical/surgical units. I then moved to Edinburgh in the summer of 1989 and subsequently began working in HIV in early 1991. This was in the pre-treatment era and I worked in a new purpose-built unit for people with HIV/AIDS. Following this, I left to pursue a conversion course to become an RMN, a long-held desire from my days as a general student. I then returned to HIV nursing but this time to Edinburgh's only AIDS hospice, Milestone House. I worked there for around three years before taking up my current post as a Specialist Mental Health Nurse in a community-based, mental health-specific HIV team.

I have an interest in psychology and a focus on the effects of behaviour and mental health on coping with daily living. I feel that mental health does not always achieve the focus it should and that a recovery goal, in relation to mental health as well as physical health, is central to an individual’s care needs. I believe that my broad experience provides me with a good background as to the needs of people living with HIV and am open to new challenges as this focus continues to shift and change.

Michelle Croston
Since beginning my nursing career, I have worked at North Manchester’s Infectious Diseases Research Department. During my time on the ward, I gained lots of experience – from palliative care to treating HIV patients in a high-dependency setting. I experienced the challenges of complex patient care and witnessed the stigma associated with the condition. After undertaking health visitor training, I subsequently moved to North Manchester’s HIV support team.

As part of my professional development, I am undertaking a professional doctorate, and my research focuses on the impact of stress on nurses caring for HIV-positive patients. Alongside the duties that I will be assigned within the Executive Committee, I hope to work on developing evidence-based strategies to help deal with stress and burnout within HIV nursing. Being closely involved with other people’s lives, often at crisis points, is bound to affect a person’s wellbeing. The resulting psychological and mental harm can trigger distress in nurses, impacting on their health – which can adversely affect their ability to deliver patient care.

Phil Greenham
Since 2004 I have been proud to be involved in the voluntary sector as the CEO of Body Positive North West. Prior to that I had 33 years’ experience in the statutory sector with a variety of clinical roles, including as sister in a dockside hospital, health visitor and family planning nurse in the inner-city housing estates in the 1970s, during a period notorious for drugs and gun crime. Whilst I was working with young unemployed 16- to 20-year-olds, HTLV111 was identified in 1983, which involved me spiralling naturally into the field of HIV, as both a commissioner and public health practitioner in 1983/4.

I remember the development of the National HIV Association, District AIDS Workers meetings and the beginning of CHAPs! Over the years, I have had the privilege of working in some amazing environments across the UK, central and Eastern Europe at both a strategic and operational level – including four years within the World Health Organization, working on the Multi City Action Plans for HIV/AIDS with NGOs and politicians. In 2003 I attended Stanford University for training to bring the accredited chronic disease training licence for PSMP into Body Positive.

I continue to believe that, for best outcome, users have to be central and in charge of their own health and wellbeing. Community governance models have dominated my way of being in the last three decades. I am still passionate about trying to challenge the wider determinates of health and participation agenda, and very proud to be involved in Body Positive, the largest surviving user-led HIV charity that still support PLWHIV after 25 years. It has developed a host of amazing peer-led models that support delivery of community governance in civil society – or, in today’s language, ‘Big Society’.

Kemoh Rogers
I have worked in HIV/AIDS since 1999 both as in- and outpatient nurse and then nurse specialist since 2002. Since June 2010 I have been a full-time Lecturer with the Faculty of Health and Social Care at Anglia Ruskin University. I applied to join the NHIVNA Executive Committee particularly to promote and support nurses working within HIV/AIDS in undertaking original qualitative research in this field. In addition to committee duties, I also have an interest in working with other members to standardise the contents of HIV modules and courses so that the taught components provide similar theoretical knowledge and practical benefits to all nurses working with people infected with or affected by HIV.

I have a strong preference for qualitative methodology in research of those living with and affected by HIV. The holistic approach, in particular, is key for two reasons: firstly, that as a chronic, manageable condition, HIV is now an appropriate setting for whole-person care; and secondly, that caring for both physical and emotional needs is central to good nursing care.

Gina Rowlands
I am the managing director and practice nurse at Bevan Healthcare CIC. We are a city wide general practice for the homeless, asylum seekers and refugees in Bradford. Bevan Healthcare is a responsive organisation promoting high quality health care for the most vulnerable members of society.

I have over 27 years of NHS experience both in primary and secondary care. I am passionate about the needs of our patients and along with the team continue to be innovative and creative to provide the very best in health/social care.

Shaun Watson
After more than 20 years working within HIV nursing, I welcome the opportunity to bring this knowledge and expertise into the service of NHIVNA. My experience ranges from specialist units to ward and hospice management, via positive self-management training, adherence support and teaching. I work within the, now huge, Central London Community Healthcare trust – three primary care trusts rolled into one, with more changes and some uncertainty on the horizon. However, within these changing times there will be the exciting prospect of promoting and advancing the role of the CNS through a new central London service.

My main objective within the executive will be to represent and support the HIV specialist nurse and other community nurses, and I am already involved in shaping the NHIVNA competencies for community nurses. In addition, I am delighted to have been offered a place on the HIV Nursing Editorial Board: we sometimes forget the wealth of knowledge and experience embodied in our work, and putting it down in print is valuable learning.

Previous Committee Members

A thank you to all our previous members, without whom NHIVNA wouldn't have grown into the organisation it is today.

Sheila Morris (Chair)
Roy Brazington
Sandra Davies (Co-Chair)
Catherine Donoghue
Siân Edwards
Stephen Head
Ian Hodgson
Jane Kennedy
Jo Kepple (Chair)
May McCreaddie
Brenda Mann
Frederick Marais
Christina Newbould
Eileen Nixon
Catherine O’Keeffe
Carol Pellowe
Nicky Perry (Chair)
James Rice
Sue Russell
Kieran Sharkey
Zoë Sheppard
Craig Waterworth

Joining the NHIVNA Committee

To become a member of the NHIVNA Executive Committee, you will need to be a NHIVNA member and stand for election. Elections are held each year in the spring and the results announced at the NHIVNA Annual General Meeting held at the NHIVNA Annual Conference. For details of the timetable, please contact the Secretariat at nhivna@mediscript.ltd.uk.