It’s been a busy few months for our newly appointed Chief Nurse, Lisa Stalley-Green but she took time out of her busy diary to chat with us.

In this Five Minutes With, we get to learn more about Lisa, Chief Nurse at one of the largest mental health Trust’s in the country.

After qualifying as a nurse 27 years ago, Lisa has worked across many areas including accident emergency, prison health, specialist community services and commissioning.

You can read more about Lisa’s career journey and what inspired her to do the role she is so passionate about in the article below.

Hi Lisa, please could you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your role at Team BSMHFT?

So, I’ve been in my role with the Trust for three months now, and my job is Chief Nursing Officer and Executive with responsibility for quality and safety. What that means is, I ensure that all our services are safe for our patients and service users, that they are effective and appropriately led.

I’m also the professional lead for nurses, allied health professionals and social workers, so I need to ensure that those professional groups are supported and continue to grow, develop and have a good voice in our Trust to influence internally and across our wider system. I’ve been a Chief Nurse for 10 years now, previously working in Birmingham, at the ICB and at University Hospitals Birmingham prior to that, as Chief Nurse in Lincolnshire, Community Services, so quite a range, but I’m new to mental health, which is exciting to have new things to learn.

When did you quality to be a nurse?

I qualified 27 years ago and worked in London. My main roles being in accident emergency, and I worked in prison health, specialist community services and commissioning. I would show you pictures over the years, but I don’t have many photos unless it’s one where I was having a flu jab!

What is your favourite thing about your role and what is the most challenging?

By far my favourite thing about my role is it’s such a privilege to lead professionals and support staff, knowing that everything that we do is about caring for others.

I’d say the most challenging period in my career was leading through the pandemic, in an acute Trust and across the system. I’ve learned a lot, but I wouldn’t want to have to relive some of the difficult decisions and some of the really painful losses we experienced as a profession.

Why did you decide to pursue a career in mental health specifically?

I’ve always had an interest in mental health and working in accidents and emergency and in community services. I’ve cared for people with a mental health condition as well as physical health. I think it’s an area where I can bring my skills to reduce and recognise that at times, we all have varying degrees of mental health and I, as much as anybody else, have had periods in my life where I’ve felt particularly challenged, perhaps experienced some depression. It drives me to want to make sure that mental health is better understood across our communities and that people have equality in their services, along with physical health.

Has there ever been a stand-out moment in your career that has made you pause and reflect?

I was at Heartlands as a visitor in 1997 as my dad was really unwell. I was so impressed with the care from the nursing staff on their High Dependency Unit. I had been toying with a career change and that was the point I decided that I wanted to retrain as a nurse, starting my nurse training two years later and I have never once regretted it.

Being a nurse… it’s such a privilege.

Past, present or future, what three people would you most want to sit down for a meal with?

Serena Williams, Dame Judy Dench, Michelle Obama.

Tell us something that people might not know about you.

I was on Blockbusters when I was 11. It was a kids’ quiz show… I don’t think I won – at least I don’t remember winning! I also like bird watching and my camera roll is filled with photos of my dog, Georgie.

Describe yourself in three words

Passionate, quirky, bookish.