Margaret GarbettChief Nurse
Margaret started her nursing journey in 1987 when she commenced her nurse training at the Queen Elizabeth School of Nursing in Birmingham, training across many hospitals within the Birmingham area, qualifying in 1990.
Following qualification Margaret specialised in Neuroscience nursing, working in various roles from staff nurse to ward sister in both Neurology and Neurosurgery, culminating in her role as Clinical Nurse Specialist for Neurosciences at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. During this time Margaret also helped develop a specialist nursing course with the local university.
Margaret has always had a strong ambition to develop nursing leadership and improve patient care and went on to undertake a number of nursing leadership roles within University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB). As a Matron, Margaret worked initially within the Elderly Care directorate and helped develop and support the implementation of the Trust’s first Frailty Unit, then moved to Multispecialty Medicine and then her final Matron role was within the Emergency Department. During this time Margaret, as part of a wider Trust support team, was able to work with a number of other NHS trusts to provide specialist advice and support to help improve patient care and nursing practice.
Margaret then became Associate Director of Nursing within one of the surgical speciality divisions and during this time she also undertook the role of Staff Governor.
In December 2017 Margaret was seconded to the post of Interim Chief Nurse at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust (HEFT), a post which was pivotal in bringing the nursing teams across UHB and HEFT together both pre and post-merger. Following the merger in 2018, Margaret was successful in securing the post of Director of Nursing for UHB, this post was a direct support role to the Chief Nurse and also crucially brought together the operational nursing teams across the whole of the Trust.
Margaret was appointed as Chief Nurse in September 2022.