Ruth May (nurse)
Ruth May is a British nurse and NHS trust manager in the National Health Service, and is now Chief Nursing Officer for England.
After various nursing roles she worked as a theatre sister at Frimley Park Hospital. She was subsequently acting director of nursing at Barnet Hospital then director of nursing and deputy chief executive at Havering Primary Care Trust.
She was chief executive of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, and chief executive of Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust. She also worked as director of nursing at Monitor from 2015 to 2016. From April 2016 to 2019 she served as executive director of nursing at NHS Improvement.
She was appointed Chief Nursing Officer for England on 7 January 2019, succeeding Jane Cummings. Her role came to public attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. On one occasion during its early stages, she was driven to call for an end to the abuse of nurses by patients.
She leads the NHS's "Stop the Pressure" campaign, to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers in hospital in-patients.
She was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by Anglia Ruskin University in 2009, and received an honorary doctorates from the University of Suffolk in 2016 and another Honorary Doctorate of Science, "for her contribution as a national leader of nursing", from Coventry University in 2019.
She was born in Wales but lived in Colchester for most of the 21st century. She has a daughter who was eight at the time of her appointment as CNO.
