Charlotte Collings

Charlotte has been working within the NHS since 2010, starting as an HCA while completing her student nurse training. She has worked within London and Essex-based trusts as a senior critical care nurse, practice development nurse leading and delivering training and preceptorship for international nurses for OSCE and international recruitment. She has led a critical care recruitment and training campaign for international nurses and most recently moved to the Princess Alexandra Hospital as their recruitment and retention nurse. Her passions are staff wellbeing and development, particularly for her international colleagues. She has been an accredited RCN Steward since 2016 and has been active within the branch, campaigning locally for fair pay. She looks forward to sharing learning around international recruitment and supporting our international colleagues new to the country and roles within their trusts. Charlotte is a member of RCN Essex branch and the chair of the Eastern region.

Emmanuel Edun

Emmanuel is currently a staff nurse in the cardiology unit of the Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust in Cambridge. He previously practised as a professional geoscientist for almost 15 years before switching career. Emmauel is vice chair of the Eastern region.

As a nursing graduate of the University of Hertfordshire, he has always been interested in ensuring quality service delivery, which led him to take the positions of faculty community organiser and student ambassador for the RCN where he has spoken for the welfare of nursing students at various events and as a member on committees. Emmanuel says his desire to improve the quality of people's lives led him to make a career change and he is committed to the welfare of every nurse and health care professional.

Natalie Brooks

Natalie is an emergency care staff nurse at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She has been a qualified nurse for two years and previous to this she worked in the same trust as a bank health care assistant. During her degree, Natalie was an RCN Student Information Officer, supporting many campaigns, helping other members become active and supporting student members to attend RCN Congress. Natalie is currently the safer staffing campaign member lead for RCN Eastern, an RCN Steward and vice chair of the RCN Norfolk branch. Natalie is also the Eastern region's member of the RCN Council. 

Jenny Janes

Jenny has held a variety of roles in care for the elderly over the last 25 years. She was a district nursing sister for 10 years and also spent 15 years as a psychotherapist in a GP practice. Jenny has been active in the RCN for 55 years as a branch member, secretary, steward, safety rep and also attending RCN Congress. She was an RCN officer for 10 years. Jenny is now retired but is active in volunteer work with health-related organisations. She is a carer for a relative with dementia. Jenny is a member of the RCN Suffolk branch.

Helen Oatham

Helen is a registered mental health nurse with over 25 years’ experience in primary and secondary care and secure services. Her current role is as the Governance Lead for an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service which is a partnership service between NHS and other organisations.

She has been an RCN steward since 2007 and, as well as individual member support, holds the RCN seat on the Trust Partnership meeting with the executive. Within the RCN, Helen has held various positions on the branch executive and is currently Chair of Norfolk Branch. Prior to being appointed to the RCN Eastern seat on the RCN Trade Union Committee, she served for six years on the Eastern Region Board, the last as Vice-Chair. She is an active speaker at RCN Congress, having presented an item on resilience in 2019, and has been active in campaign activities including attending Parliament to speak with MPs about staffing and pay.

Chinenye Ubah

Chinenye qualified in 2013 in Nigeria. She is currently a lecturer in Adult Nursing at Anglia Ruskin University and her experience has spanned through clinical nursing, nursing education, and research.

Chinenye has been involved with the RCN since 2019 when she joined the NHS and became a learning rep in 2021. Chinenye is a member of RCN Cambridgeshire branch.

Alison Paterson

Alison is the Lead Cancer Nurse at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust. Qualified for over 20 years, she started her nursing career on a bone marrow transplant ward, moving on to intensive care and completing her Masters in Advancing Critical Care Nursing at King's College London. More recently Alison has held CNS roles in Haemato-Oncology and Acute Oncology, including a Lecturer-Practitioner role qualifying as an Independent Prescriber and practising at an advanced level.

Alison has been a member of Blood Cancer UK Nurses group since 2018 and a member of their Healthcare Professional Advisory Group since 2020, contributing to the APPG on Blood Cancer. She also currently chairs the East Of England Cancer Alliance Lead Cancer Nurses Group. Alison is RCN Eastern member on the Professional Nursing Committee.

Penny McGonagle

Penny relocated to England from Ireland in 2016. She has been nominated for two awards during her time as a Trainee Nursing Associate, for being an aspiring apprentice and for COVID-19 response. Penny currently works in emergency theatres. She says that being on the RCN Eastern board is a fantastic opportunity to further develop her skills professionally and to make a significant and positive contribution. Penny is a member of RCN Norfolk branch.

Shikha Sharma

Shikha’s nursing career has spanned diverse specialties and continents, beginning in a demanding cardiac thoracic ITU. She served as a captain in the Indian army for five years, providing care in critical areas like emergency services, paediatrics and specialised units. Upon leaving the army, Shikha embraced a role as a quality improvement nurse and educator in an Indian cancer hospital. She led an in-service training program, similar to a residency program, fostering the next generation of nurses. Since arriving in the UK in 2017, Shikha has worked across various wards and departments. Her passion lies in education, especially for international nursing staff, which led her to become an RCN learning rep in 2020. Shikha actively contributes to her RCN branch, campaigning for fair pay for nursing. Since 2021, she has led "finding your voice" events to empower nursing staff to advocate for themselves and their profession.

William Jenner

William is a senior stroke support nurse at the James Paget University Hospital, where he has worked since 2001. A registered nurse since 2004, William continued his academic studies and holds a master’s degree in education and a postgraduate certificate in leadership. In 2013, William took an 18-month career break as a volunteer, using his nursing skills in Ghana, Nepal, and the Philippines.

 

Reflecting on his nursing career, his mantra is there is no greater privilege than to devote oneself fully to an organisation or cause that will help you achieve something far greater than you could ever achieve by yourself. With this in mind, William took on his latest challenge of becoming a member of the RCN Eastern Region Board.

Susan Oates

Susan is a general nurse with over 30 years’ experience in health and social care in the private sector across the UK. She has multi-site operational, business development, commissioning and clinical experience. Focussing on staff wellbeing and development, she has built strong working relationships to bring about change to procedures, strategy and policy. Ensuring collaboration with the acute sector is her passion.

Susan joined the RCN as a student nurse and has been a member since then. She has been a strong advocate for her nursing teams to join the RCN.

Susan won the Special Recognition Award at the 2019 Suffolk Care Awards and was highly commended at the 2023 Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care Awards (WAGS). Susan and her team received an internal award for Inspirational Teams in 2022.

Gladys Clarry

Gladys is a specialist mental health practitioner working in Cambridge for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. She specialises in dementia assessments and other mental health duties within the older people’s memory services.

She is a graduate of Bedfordshire University, with degrees in mental health nursing (Hons) and psychosocial interventions and family therapy. Further training improved her psychodynamic counselling skills, increasing her knowledge of mental health nursing, administration and management. Gladys is committed to delivering the highest standards of patient care whilst remaining focused on ensuring compliance within the regulatory framework.

Involved with the RCN since 2008, she is an accredited RCN learning rep. As a board member, her aim is to enhance opportunities within the RCN. She is hoping to become involved in other RCN forums to empower nursing colleagues to advocate for themselves in their nursing careers.

 

Hannah Njenga Byram

Hannah is a member of the Suffolk branch.