Dame Elizabeth Harriet Fradd, DBE, FRCN, is a British nursing administrator. Between 1973–1983, she held a variety of

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

and health visitor posts, while training as a children’s nurse who also managed children's units in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and worked as a nursing officer at the Department of Health. In 1994 she gained an MSc in Health Care Policy and Organisation from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. A year later she became the Director of Nursing and Education at the NHS Executive West Midlands Regional Office. Four years later she was appointed as the Assistant Chief Nursing Officer (Nursing Practice) for the Department of Health. At national level, she was Assistant Chief Nurse in the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

, a post she moved to after having been the Director of Nursing and Education in the West Midlands Regional Office. She chaired the Joint British Advisory Committee for Children's Nursing for over ten years. She chaired the Children's Nursing Committee for the English National Board and was Vice Chair of the RCN Children’s Nurse Managers Forum. She served at the

Commission for Health Improvement The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) was a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department of Health of the United Kingdom from 2001 until 2004, when its functions were subsumed by the Healthcare Commission. CHI was established by ...

as Director of Nursing and Lead Director for the Inspection and Review Programme. She holds many honorary academic positions which include a Visiting Professor of Nursing at the

University of Central England , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Her career has also taken an international direction, including an invitation to advise Aboriginal health workers in the

Australian outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

. She has also acted in an advisory capacity to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Since April 2004 she has been working as an independent adviser on health services and continues to take an interest in children’s health as a Trustee for Contact a Family and the Rainbows Children’s Hospice in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

, and as an adviser to Action for Sick Children.

Awards

She has received honorary doctorates from the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...

and

, where she has a special professorship. She was made a Fellow of the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...

in 2004.

Honours

Fradd was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours. She was picked

High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of the English county of Nottinghamshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuri ...

for the year 2020–21.

External links

Profile at RCN website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fradd, Elizabeth Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English nurses Academics of Birmingham City University Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Nursing High Sheriffs of Nottinghamshire Alumni of the University of Nottingham British nurses