CHAS appoints new Director of Nursing and Family Support

Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) has announced the appointment of Jennifer Rodgers MBE as the new Director of Nursing and Family Support. Jen takes up her new role on 12 August 2024. She will lead all CHAS’s nursing and family support services, directing teams of staff working in hospices, hospitals and children’s own homes across Scotland.

Jen is currently the Deputy Nurse Director at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, with responsibility for corporate and community services. Previously, she was the Chief Nurse at the Royal Hospital for Children and Neonates in Glasgow. Jen has had an exciting career; prior to this she worked in various roles in Glasgow, Paisley, New Zealand and Australia.

Jen has been instrumental in driving high-quality, person-centred care across the NHS, leading the development of the “What Matters to Me?” approach in Scotland and internationally. Passionate about improving health services and experiences of care for babies, children, young people and their families, Jen is an advocate of person-centred and family-integrated care. She has been awarded Scottish Nurse of the Year and also Scottish Woman of the Year. She received an MBE in 2019 for services to healthcare.

Working closely with Dr Annabel Howell, Medical Director at CHAS, Jen will work in partnership to lead our clinical and care services at the charity.

On her appointment to this role, Jen said “I am delighted and humbled to have been appointed to the role of Director of Nursing and Family Support within CHAS. Having witnessed the great work of CHAS and its development over the last 30 years, it is a huge privilege to join the team and to be able to play my part in building on that fantastic work, continuously improving the care and experiences of children and families across Scotland.”

Chief Executive Rami Okasha said “Three children a week die from a life-shortening condition. Our nursing and family support staff provide unwavering care to them on this most difficult of journeys. After a competitive recruitment process, we are delighted to appoint Jen Rodgers to this important strategic leadership position. Jen’s extensive experience in paediatric nursing and the wider support families rely on will be of huge benefit to children with life-shortening conditions. Jen will play a significant role in helping CHAS deliver our new Strategic Plan which outlines our pivotal support to families of dying children at each critical stage of their palliative care journey. I am looking forward to welcoming Jen to CHAS in the weeks ahead.”