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The North London NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to announce that it has appointed as its Chief Nurse and Allied Health Professions Officer the NHS’s first internationally-educated nurse from India to a Board-level Chief Nursing Officer .  

Manny Gnanaraj will take up the role in April 2025, leading the Trust’s nursing and allied health professionals staff, as well as being responsible for patient safety and quality of care. Manny originally trained in India, before moving as an international recruit to the NHS in 2003. He has subsequently spent more than two decades in clinical and progressively senior leadership roles in the south and south west of England, before joining the Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust where he is currently D eputy Chief N ursing Office r, in 2022.    

Announcing the appointment, our C hief E xecutive Jinjer Kandola said :  

“ We are thrilled that Manny will be joining us in April, at what is already shaping up to be an exciting year for the North London NHS Foundation Trust, and it’s particularly significant for us that he is the first internationally -educated nurse from India to become a Chief Nurse in an NHS Trust .   

Colleagues who join the NHS after completing training and qualifying overseas make a major contribution to our  organisations, both individually and collectively, and I am delighted that NLFT is demonstrating that talent and leadership of all kinds thrives in our trust.”  

Manny added:  

“ I am absolutely delighted to be appointed as the Chief Nursing and Allied Health Profession ( AHP ) Officer at North London NHS Foundation Trust. It is truly an honour to join this first-class team with a shared vision of providing quality and compassionate care for our patients. I am looking forward to joining the dedicated, values-driven staff, and I am passionate to make a positive difference the North London Way by creating our future together.

With years of experience in nursing leadership, I have always been passionate about supporting our nursing and  allied health professionals teams, advocating for patient care, and fostering an environment where compassion, innovation and collaboration thrive. I am so excited and can’t wait to start working with the Trust to continue the journey to excellence.”     

The British Indian Nurses Association (BINA) shared their congratulations:   

“The British Indian Nurses Association (BINA) is immensely proud to celebrate the appointment of Manny Gnanaraj , one of our internationally educated nurses, as the Chief Nurse at North London Foundation Trust.  

This milestone is particularly significant as Manny becomes the first Indian IEN (Internationally Educated Nurse) to hold the position of Chief Nurse. On behalf of our community, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to Manny on this well-deserved achievement. 

We also express our sincere gratitude to North London NHS Foundation Trust for their commitment to fostering diversity, inclusion, and belonging as core values of their organisational culture.

Manny’s remarkable journey stands as an inspiration to our community and a beacon of hope for many Indian-origin nurses across the UK. We wish him every success in his new role and look forward to the positive impact he will undoubtedly continue to make.”