Sue Tranka was appointed as the Chief Nursing Officer for Wales and Nurse Director of NHS Wales in the summer of 2021. She was formerly the Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for Patient Safety and Innovation at NHS England and Improvement and held the role of Director of Infection prevention and control leading the national team in its response to supporting guidance development, implementation and remobilisation of NHS services. Protecting staff and patients from nosocomial transmission of Covid has been a key focus of her work since the start of the pandemic.

Sue has 32 years of varied experience in nursing and has spent the last 25 years working in the National Health Service. Sue trained as a midwife, registered general nurse, mental health nurse and community nurse. Sue has a strong interest in quality improvement, human factors and safety systems.

As of April 2022, Sue holds the title of Honorary Visiting Professor at Cardiff University.

In October 2020, Sue was listed among the Health Service Journal’s 50 most influential people in health from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background, and in December 2021 was awarded a fellowship of the Queen’s Nursing Institute. Sue is a Trustee for the Florence Nightingale Foundation and is an FNF alumna leadership scholar.