The UHSM Academy has just welcomed a new associate director, Jill Johnson, to lead the team undertaking the day-to-day running of the unique health care education organisation.

Jill joins the organisation from NHS North West, where she was Assistant Director of Health Services Resilience, during which time she acted as the operations manager and logistics lead for the North West’s response to the swine flu pandemic.

The UHSM Academy is the UK’s first organisation to unite every aspect of health care education – from routine fire training to consultant’s specialty training - under one umbrella.

Jill said: “I am excited about the prospects of the task ahead. My job is to pull together the component parts of the Academy so that it feels – and is regarded from outside – as a distinct entity. My first step will be to develop an Academy business development plan. People need to understand what the Academy is and how it can deliver education and training relevant to all staff, to enable them to play a part in the delivery of better care to patients.”

Jill’s background is in cancer services as a radiotherapy radiographer, starting her career at Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology on the Wirral, where she worked her way up to the position of department manager with close educational links with Liverpool University. After 12 years as head of department at Clatterbridge, she took a two-year secondment as Allied Health Professions Network Lead with Cheshire and Merseyside SHA. She then moved to what is now Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital as General Manager.