Ruth Walker MBE
Registrant member
Current position and background
Ruth was first appointed to the Council in 2016 and has been reappointed to serve a second term. Ruth is the designated member for Wales and it is a condition of her appointment that she continues to live or work wholly or mainly in Wales. Ruth is Chair of the Remuneration Committee.
Until May 2022 Ruth was Executive Nurse Director at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, one of the largest integrated Health Boards in Wales, employing 16,000 staff with a budget of £1.4 billion. As well as being the professional lead for Nurses and Midwives, as an executive member of the Health Board Ruth was the lead director for a range of areas including quality, safety, and improvement, patient experience, safeguarding and infection prevention and control. She has held two previous Executive Nurse Director roles along with deputy CEO.
Ruth has spoken nationally and internationally about patient safety improvement. She has also undertaken a number of national and ambassadorial roles on behalf of Welsh nursing, most recently leading the implementation of the Nurse Staffing Act in Wales.
Following a long term interest in the development of future leaders in nursing and midwifery, Ruth has recently taken up a part time post with Health Education and Improvement Wales and is undertaking work on designing a development programme for future senior nursing and midwifery leaders.
Ruth was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2019 for her services to nursing in the NHS.
