A Few Minutes With Lisa Pim
Lisa Pim, our Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for Quality and Governance, discusses her role within the organisation, achievements and inspiration.
In a nutshell, can you explain what your job entails?
As Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for Quality and Governance, I have the privilege and responsibility of championing the highest standards of care across our organisation. My role is rooted in a deep commitment to ensuring that every patient, every family, and every member of our community receives safe, effective, and compassionate care—every time.
I lead the strategic direction of quality, safety, and clinical governance, working collaboratively with clinical leaders, frontline teams, and those with lived experience to support delivery of the best care possible. At the heart of my work is the voice of the patient—listened to, valued, and used to drive change that truly matters.
My role is to ensure that our systems of assurance are not just compliant, but practical; that learning from incidents leads to meaningful change and transformation, and that excellence is not as aspiration but the standard.
For me, quality is not an outcome— it’s a journey. Governance is not bureaucracy—it’s the backbone of trust, and I see it as my role to ensure that both are felt in every ward, every service, and every boardroom.
What achievement are you most proud of (so far)?
One of my greatest professional achievements has been leading the implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF). This work has not only transformed how we respond to patient safety incidents, but it has also reshaped our entire safety culture—placing learning, compassion, and improvement at the heart of our response.
Implementing PSIRF required a deep and thoughtful approach: we listened to voices across the organisation I was working in —from clinicians and corporate teams to patients and families. We reviewed data with care, engaged all stakeholders with honesty, and built new systems that moved us away from blame and towards meaningful learning.
We didn’t just launch a framework—we nurtured and encouraged a cultural shift. We trained our workforce, restructured our governance, and supported our leaders to think differently about risk, accountability, and continuous improvement. We made sure that our responses to incidents were proportionate, respectful, and most importantly, led to real change.
But the true achievement wasn’t in the implementation—it was in the impact. Colleagues began to speak more openly. Patients expressed they felt heard. Teams were learning together.
PSIRF has shown me that learning isn’t a process—it’s a mindset. And leading this work has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my career.
Why did you choose your career?
I am truly so proud to be a nurse. I feel very lucky to work in a profession in which I hold such pride and meaning. From the age of 14, I knew I wanted to be a nurse and started to work at weekends in a nursing home – I knew instinctively that I wanted to care for people and help them in their lives and it has always given me such a deep sense of satisfaction and meaning in my life. I remain in absolute awe of colleagues working in front-line services – the care, compassion and dedication of professionals make me feel so proud to be part of something important, even if I do this now from behind the scenes.
Who would you say was your inspiration?
Well of course, being a nurse and the fact that I hold this so dear naturally leads me to say that Florence Nightingale is my ultimate inspiration. She inspires me because she embodied everything I believe nursing leadership should be - compassionate, courageous, and unapologetically focused on improving outcomes for those most in need. She didn’t wait for permission to lead; she saw suffering and injustice and used data, intellect, and determination to create change that remains alive in our profession today. What moves me most was her ability to balance empathy with evidence—bringing humility into every aspect of her work whilst never shying away from being held to account.
As a nurse leader focused on quality and governance, I am inspired by her spirit when driving improvement and championing safer, fairer care. Her legacy reminds me that we don’t just inherit a profession—we inherit a responsibility to leave it better than we found it.
If there was one thing you could change in the world, what would it be?
I think the focus on youth, maintaining it and idolising it at all costs.. We seem to have forgotten the benefits that come with age – this being experience, wisdom and a good dose of common sense. We don't celebrate ageing in the western media; instead, we do everything we can to deny it. I think this is sad, divisive and ill-informed.
Describe yourself in three words.
Compassionate, reflective, disciplined.
Finally, not a lot of people know this about me but…
I am hugely into endurance events and this year I am completing a 43-mile ultra event to raise money for charity in June.