Karen Wilson

Director of NMAHP (Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions)

Karen Wilson started working as the new Executive Director of NMAHP in January 2018.

Karen came to NES after just under 3 years with The University of the West of Scotland, where she was the Dean of the largest undergraduate nursing and midwifery programmes in Scotland.

Working over 5 campuses in Paisley, Hamilton, Ayr, Dumfries and London, Karen had a staff of approximately 180 people, all of whom were working to improve the student experience, develop research and enterprise opportunities and increase the global reach of the School.

Prior to that, Karen was the first Executive Director for Health Professions & Nursing Care at the Scottish Ambulance Service, where, amongst other things, she led the development of the first National Workforce Plan for SAS, introduced a Significant Adverse Event Policy focussing on human factors, and was responsible for the Scottish Ambulance Academy based at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Before this, Karen was at the Scottish Government for 12 years, as Nursing Officer for Education & Regulation, then Deputy CNO for Scotland.

This role included commissioning pre-registration nursing & midwifery for the whole of Scotland, and allowed Karen to work closely with NES to establish programmes such as Flying Start NHS, Practice Education Facilitators, Early Clinical Career Fellowships and Effective Practitioner.

Karen trained as a nurse and midwife before becoming a district nurse. She then carried out research into the care of stroke patients leading to her MSc in Medical Science at the University of Glasgow. Karen is also a registered nurse teacher.

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Contact details

Westport 102, West Port, Edinburgh. EH3 9DN

0131 656 3370