Meet the new pro vice-chancellor of the University of Cumbria

Professor Brian Webster-Henderson also wants more focus on research - encouraging health professionals to carry out practice-based studies to PhD level.

The 54-year-old took up the role of pro vice-chancellor for health just before Christmas.

A well-known national and international figure, he has held several senior academic roles and works in an advisory capacity to influence future policy.

Prof Webster-Henderson takes over at an ideal time - with the Government having just published its 10-year plan for the NHS.

He said one of his priorities would be to work with local health service leaders to help them meet the workforce needs of the future.

Living in Carlisle with his husband Jim, a social worker, he is initially splitting his time between the Carlisle, Ambleside, Lancaster and London campuses.

Originally from the Dundee area of Scotland, Prof Webster-Henderson started his career as a nurse after leaving school.

He worked in mental health nursing, specialising in drug and alcohol addictions, before moving to Portsmouth in England.

He worked in many different areas of nursing, progressing to senior and management roles. But he said his ambition was always to help others to further their careers, so he started to expand his own qualifications while he was still in nursing.

“I’ve always had a passion to see people better themselves and extend their knowledge, because it ultimately impacts on patient care.

“Wherever you work in practice, the end result should be to improve the care that patients get. Everyone, whether they work in hospitals, the community or the private sector, has a role to play in that.

“I’ve never been a full time student. I’ve got several degrees but I’ve always studied while I’ve been working,” he said. “My first degree was actually in politics.”

The University of Cumbria is his fifth academic role, having previously worked at universities in Portsmouth, Southampton, Aberdeen and most recently Edinburgh Napier.

Nationally, Prof Webster-Henderson also chairs the Council of Deans

“We represent all 85 universities in the UK that train nurses or allied health professionals. We are the go-to organisation in the UK on policy, research, funding etc. It takes me to meetings with the Department of Health and senior leaders in the country to push forward agendas for education and research,” he explained.

Prof Webster-Henderson also speaks at international events about nursing, education and workforce issues, and is an honorary professor of John Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Asked why he applied for the University of Cumbria role, he said it was an opportunity that he couldn’t let pass by.

“I came to Cumbria because the opportunity for a Pro Vice Chancellor for Health is really rare. It’s rare for a university to make such a senior position for health.

“The attraction for me is that it shows the university’s commitment to health. It’s a huge part of the university’s provision. There is real potential to have an impact on the lives of patients and the community,” explained Prof Webster-Henderson, who has a 27-year-old son.

“There are great opportunities here. What’s great is that the breadth of subjects we cover is probably greater than any other university - nursing, allied health professionals, medical science and sports.”

He added that he was keen to strengthen the links between these fields. “In policy terms, the link between sports, exercise and health has never been greater,” he said.

Prof Webster-Henderson has a lot of big ideas about how he can move the university forward - but said he didn’t want to rush in to anything.

“I’m just trying to take stock of what we are doing and modify it so that it absolutely serves the locality. My vision is to create an institute for health and wellbeing that meets the needs of local areas.

“I will be meeting all the chief executives and directors of nursing in the area, asking how we can best serve them,” he said.

“Recruitment of students is a big issue, but retaining qualified staff in the workplace is as big, if not bigger, issue. You can’t look at one without the other. We want people to stay in their careers and progress. We need to make sure that what we offer for qualified staff, in terms of education, absolutely meets those needs.”

He said there were many positives in the NHS 10-year plan, and the university needed to look at what it provided, and ensure it aligned.

“I’ve just come from Scotland, where health and social care integration is further down the line. It makes you think about the skill sets that people have, that we have to think wider,” he explained.

Prof Webster-Henderson said Cumbria was already creating its own bespoke roles to meet the needs of the area, and the university could play a big part in that going forward.

“Here we have a long history of producing advanced practitioners - people who can assess and prescribe. Not just nurses but also paramedics and allied health professionals, qualified in doing things that they traditionally wouldn’t have done,” he said.

He added that there were now lots of different routes into nursing careers, and they had a responsibility to help students find the path best for them.

Prof Webster-Henderson believes that they can do a lot to help make nursing careers more appealing - and he said there were still plenty of positive reasons to go into the profession.

“In this day and age, caring professions are stable careers to get into. People are always going to need care. There are also more routes for career progression,” he said. “In Cumbria, we have to make sure we serve the needs of our local workforce.”

He believes a big part of that lies in research opportunities.

“We want to grow practitioners here to PhD level. They might not necessarily come and work at the university. They might stay in practice and carry out practice-based research. I’m a great believer in clinical academic careers. People can extend their knowledge and skills to PhD level but remain in practice to research and ultimately benefit patients.”

He said many doctors already did this, so why couldn’t nurses and other health professionals? “There is a lot to learn from medics in terms of how fluidly they work between practice and higher education. It just needs a bit of creative thinking,” he added.