Executive Committee
Current NHIVNA Executive Committee
| Name | Position | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Linda Panton | Chair | Western General Hospital, Edinburgh |
| Jen Kendrick | Honorary Treasurer | Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust |
| Daini Flower | Honorary Secretary | The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust |
| Laura Hilton | Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Chris Hodgson | Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Sian Jeffery | Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust | |
| Jay Lamb | University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Sue Potts | Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Helen Reynolds | University of Liverpool | |
| Moses Shongwe | Barts Health NHS Trust, London | |
| Alex Sparrowhawk | Community | UK-CAB and George House Trust |
| Jessica Osorio | Co-opted | Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust |
| Alexandra Thomas-Leech | Co-opted | Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust |
Joining the NHIVNA Executive Committee
To become a member of the NHIVNA Executive Committee, you will need to be a NHIVNA member and stand for election. Elections are held each year in the spring and the results announced at the NHIVNA Annual General Meeting held at the NHIVNA Annual Conference. For details of the timetable, please contact the Secretariat at nhivna@nhivna.org.
Committee Biographies
Linda Panton
Chair 2023–2026
I began my career as a staff nurse in a 14 bedded HIV unit thirty years ago and progressed to the role of clinical nurse specialist. I am currently Charge Nurse of the Infectious Diseases department and manage the clinic nurses, the HIV CNS and the Mental Health specialist nurses. Clinically I support a cohort of people living with HIV in our nurse-led service. I am passionate about nurses using their expert skills to look after people living with HIV and feel strongly that we provide best holistic care. I was part of a group of nurses who developed a best practice guide to carry out Annual Reviews to assess the physical, mental and sexual health of our patients and would like to see all clinics around the UK ensuring that patients see a nurse at least annually for a comprehensive check. I have served on the Executive since 2013 and was Treasurer from 2015. I am honoured to take on the role of Chair and look forward to working with an amazing group of people on the Executive to ensure we support education and research for our members and most importantly continue to fight to eradicate stigma for everyone living with HIV.
Jen Kendrick
Honorary Treasurer 2023–2026
I am the lead HIV clinical specialist nurse at The Hathersage Centre in Manchester. Over the past 13 years, I have progressed in my role from a band 5 rotational nurse between sexual health, health advisors and HIV to my current position. I was drawn to HIV care as I found it challenging but ultimately the most rewarding job I have ever done, as we can use our skills as specialist nurses to help our patients to achieve the best possible health and social care outcomes whilst providing ongoing psychological support through their journey. I am chair of the north west HIV nursing alliance, of which I am honoured to be part. I am very excited to join the NHIVNA executive committee and I hope I can extend my passion for bringing nurses together to improve outcomes for people living with HIV at national level.
Daini Flower
Honorary Secretary 2025–2028
I am an HIV Clinical Nurse Specialist in Wolverhampton having recently passed my Non-Medical Prescribing qualification. Prior to this I worked for 8 years as an Integrated Sexual Health Nurse in Shropshire, working across sexual health and HIV services. I have a passion for working within HIV services, making positive changes within my clinical area to improve the provision of care for vulnerable patients, addressing stigmas that are often associated with HIV by utilising the knowledge gained from NHIVNA, international conferences and my working experiences. As a member of the NIVNHA Committee I aim to provide support, encouragement and mentorship to those new to the area of HIV nursing, ensuring that as healthcare professionals we promote the benefits and rewarding opportunities that HIV services have to offer.
Elected members
Laura Hilton
I qualified as a nurse in 1997. I have a total of 26 years of HIV experience, firstly within an inpatient setting and, for the past 22 years, as a clinical nurse specialist and a nurse consultant. I have a Masters degree in nursing. I currently lead three HIV services, both clinically and managerially. I have a particular interest in extended roles for nurses and new ways of working and was instrumental in setting up nurse-led clinics within my setting. I believe that specialist nurses are key to delivering high quality, patient centred care.
Chris Hodgson
I have been working within the field of sexual health and HIV for 14 years. I am currently working as a HIV Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Lancashire HIV service. In conjunction with a team of consultants, I manage the care for a cohort of around 400 people living with HIV. This focuses on providing care clinically and holistically. I am very proud that I was asked by Gilead to participate in ‘Whose role is it anyway?’ at both BHIVA and NHIVNA. I have also presented a poster and oral presentation at NHIVNA around the opt-out BBV testing in ED. I was also engaged to facilitate a workshop at the NHSE National Conference on opt-out BBV testing in ED on two occasions in London. I am a very hard-working, self-motivated and enthusiastic individual who feels passionate about improving the care of people living with and those at risk of HIV. I am quietly competitive and thrive within new challenges.
Sian Jeffery
I have worked for seven years as an HIV CNS at Nottingham University Hospital and have an extensive background as a sexual health nurse. My responsibilities extend across both outpatients and inpatients on the ID ward. After completing the NHIVNA STIF core competency, I was able to provide skilled nursing care to people living with HIV and support staff from an educational role. I enjoy supporting women throughout pregnancy in our positive care clinic and have an interest in mental health. I hope to bring a fresh perspective to the committee from the evolving role as an HIV nurse.
Jay Lamb
Having qualified in 1996 (yes, that long ago!), I have worked continuously in medical nursing, covering specialities including neurology, brain injuries and stroke (including thrombolysis), discharge/ nurse-led services, elderly care, rheumatology and dermatology. Most relevantly, I worked in sexual health for three years and as the infectious diseases ward manager in Leicester for five years. Since 2015, I have been working passionately as a clinical nurse specialist in HIV in Birmingham and now lead the HIV nursing team (CNS and health advisors) at Birmingham Heartlands HIV service. HIV has been my long-term passion from handing out red ribbons and leaflets on the streets of York as a teenage volunteer in the early 90’s to leading an amazing HIV nursing team today. I would like to be able to offer some of this passion to NHIVNA and HIV nursing nationally by becoming a trustee.
Sue Potts
Sue is an HIV nurse specialist at Blackpool Teaching Hospital and a non-medical independent nurse prescriber. Sue, who has worked in sexual health and HIV since 1990, began specializing in HIV in 1994 gaining substantial experience in dealing with complex HIV patient care and management in the community. Prior to her career in sexual health/HIV, Sue worked in palliative care at the local hospice for four years from qualifying as a nurse. Sue is a passionate advocate about all aspects of HIV and co-leads in the NHSE BBV opt-out screening programme since it commenced in 2022 and its implementation into Blackpool’s emergency department. Her particular interests are raising missed opportunities in HIV testing and management of late diagnosis. HIV education and awareness, eradicating HIV stigma, providing holistic patient-centred HIV care, and ensuring HIV standards of care are always met.
Helen Reynolds
I have worked in the area of HIV for over 20 years in various positions. I am currently a Clinical Trials Programme Manager at the University of Liverpool, with previous nursing positions as a clinical research nurse and HIV specialist nurse in infectious diseases and sexual health. My areas of research are in pharmacology, drug-drug interactions and pregnancy both in the UK and sub-Saharan Africa. I am currently chair of the Research Subcommittee and I would like to continue bringing my expertise in HIV clinical research to the subcommittee. I wish to make research accessible to everyone through an updated research strategy, providing research focused sessions at conference and building a research resource for NHIVNA members.
Moses Shongwe
Currently, I am a HIV Network Lead Nurse for Barts Health NHS Trust. I have worked in HIV care for 25 years. My passion is to create a safe clinical environment for people living with HIV by ensuring that we have the right workforce with relevant clinical skills and knowledge. I am a co-opted member of NHIVNA Executive Committee and currently representing NHIVNA in the HIV Clinical Reference Group. I am an active member of the NHIVNA Research Subcommittee. I have been instrumental in the development of the NHIVNA Person-Centred Model of HIV Nursing Care and am keen to support its implementation into practice to be usable tool to benefits our HIV services development and planning. I will really welcome your support for me to continue to support NHIVNA in achieving its goals.
Co-opted members
Jessica Osorio
I have worked as an HIV nurse for over 20 years in a variety of roles, including clinical research, a community HIV CNS and more recently in HIV outpatients, first in a busy London hospital and now in a smaller unit where I am the only HIV specialist nurse within a GUM service supporting three specialist consultants and a cohort of 3-400 patients. I would bring a variety of skills and experience and insight into the differing needs of nurses working in smaller centres, as well as an understanding of the role of community and clinic-based nurses.
Alexandra Thomas-Leech
I qualified as a midwife in 2008, and from the very beginning of my training, I became acutely aware of the stigma faced by people living with HIV, particularly within healthcare settings. During my elective placement, I had the opportunity to work alongside a specialist HIV midwife, and that experience confirmed my aspiration to one day take on that role myself. In 2016, I became the Specialist HIV Midwife in Central Manchester, a role I continue to be passionate about. Since then, I’ve worked hard to challenge stigma in clinical environments, focusing on educating staff about the impact their attitudes, behaviours, and language can have on those living with HIV. I also teach student midwives at local universities, placing a strong emphasis on person-centred care and the importance of understanding and dismantling stigma. My approach to midwifery is rooted in compassion, empowerment, and respect. I believe that pregnancy should be a positive and empowering journey for every woman – and for those living with HIV. It’s essential that their care is centred around them as individuals, not defined by their diagnosis. Being a member of the NHIVNA Executive Committee will enhance my work in this field and provide a valuable platform to contribute to national conversations. It also allows me to support NHIVNA in developing resources and improving care for women birthing with HIV, ensuring their needs are recognised, understood, and met across all maternity settings.
Community Representative Trustee (elected by UK-CAB)
Alex Sparrowhawk
Alex has been working in HIV community organisations for over 11 years, with a background spanning service delivery, HIV prevention, ageing and strengthening strategic partnerships with professionals working in HIV and sexual health. Living with HIV for 16 years, Alex is passionate about meaningful involvement in HIV treatment and care and ensuring the voices of people living with HIV are heard, enabling them to thrive with HIV.
Previous Executive Committee Members
A thank you to all our previous members, without whom NHIVNA would not have grown into the organisation it is today.
Nathaniel Brito-Ault (Chair)
Michelle Croston (Chair)
Sandra Davies (Co-Chair)
Liz Foote (Chair)
Jo Kepple (Chair)
Sheila Morris (Chair)
Nicky Perry (Chair)
Shaun Watson (Chair)
Christina Antoniadi
Gary Barker
Juliet Bennett
Roy Brazington
Garry Brough
Jane Bruton
Tracey Buckingham
Jayne Churchill
Catherine Donoghue
Siân Edwards
Catrin Evans
Beth Freeborn
Claire Gamble
Ricky Gellissen
Phil Greenham
Matthew Grundy-Bowers
Jacqui Hale
Stephen Head
Ian Hodgson
Pauline Jelliman
Jane Kennedy
Longret Kwardem
Caroline Lovett
Siobhán Lynch
Sam Mabey-Puttock
Brenda Mann
Frederick Marais
Andy Marshall
Darran McAteer
May McCreaddie
John McLuskey
Angelina Namiba
Mercy Nangwale
Christina Newbould
Rachael Ng’andwe
Eileen Nixon
Catherine O’Keeffe
Joel Paparello
Carol Pellowe
Joe Phillips
Hilary Piercy
James Rice
Kemoh Rogers
Gina Rowlands
Sue Russell
Kirstie Salthouse
Kieran Sharkey
Zoë Sheppard
James Stanford
Katie Warburton
Anele Waters
Craig Waterworth
Jill Williams
Matt Wills