Neil is a mental health nurse by background and training and has spent his career championing healthcare developments particularly in mental health and more recently at MPFT, the integration of physical, mental health and social care.
He has worked internationally to understand the impact of nurses with prescriptive authority, which over the past 20 years has gone from strength to strength and supported the development of nurses and Allied Health Professionals into advance practice roles. This resulted in Neil being awarded an OBE for services to healthcare and nursing in 2005 and he was also awarded the prestigious fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing in 2010.
Neil has also been instrumental in developing and establishing sub-specialties in the field of mental health care, including services for eating disorders, perinatal mental health and psychiatric intensive care.
Neil said, “I am both delighted and honoured to have been chosen amongst such distinguished and eminent individuals, to be the recipient of an honorary degree from Keele University.
“The field of mental health is one that I am passionate about and I am pleased to have been involved in many projects throughout my career to lead and nurture developments in the field.”
Professor Trevor McMillan, Vice-Chancellor of Keele University said, "Our honorary graduates have all achieved remarkable things in their respective fields of expertise, and I am thrilled to welcome them to the Keele community with the presentation of these honorary degrees.
“Their outstanding contributions are many and varied, including achievements in fields such as medical research, promoting social equality and tackling social exclusion in our local area, and I will be proud to stand alongside them to celebrate these achievements when circumstances allow.”