Paul Drew
Paul began his career in health care in 2003 as a Health Care Assistant before progressing naturally into nursing, qualifying as a Registered Nurse in 2008.
He has gained extensive clinical experience across a range of NHS settings, including Renal Transplant, Acute Gastrointestinal services, and Emergency Care. Paul subsequently spent two years within a Practice Placement Team, where he supported the development of student nurses and midwives, and contributed to the education and guidance of practice mentors and assessors.
As one of the first Sepsis Nurses in the United Kingdom, Paul played a pivotal role in enhancing the early recognition and management of sepsis across his Trust, with responsibility for delivering training, evidencing improvements, and reporting outcomes. In 2013, he founded the UK Sepsis Nurse Forum now the UK Sepsis Practitioner Forum (UKSPF) with the support of the UK Sepsis Trust and NHS England (Patient Safety). The UKSPF has since grown to more than 180 members, representing organisations across the UK.
Paul’s Sepsis Nurse role later evolved into a dual position within the Deteriorating Patient and Resuscitation Team, where he served as a Resuscitation Officer (Sepsis Lead). During this time, he became an Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) Provider, an Advanced Life Support (Adult) Instructor, and a Generic Instructor Course (GIC) Instructor, delivering advanced life support training to doctors, nurses and multidisciplinary teams across professional groups.
After seven years in this post, Paul progressed to lead Pre-, Post-, and Non-Registration Education within his Trust. As Lead for the Nursing and Midwifery Clinical Education Team, he oversaw Health Care Assistant development programmes, the Nursing Associate pathway, pre-registration nursing and midwifery placements, and a range of post-registration courses such as catheterisation and cannulation. He played a key role in implementing the Standards for Student Supervision and Assessment (SSSA) and integrating the COVID-19 emergency education standards within the organisation.
Driven by a longstanding commitment to education and professional standards, Paul joined Birmingham City University in 2020. He now teaches across pre- and post-registration nursing programmes and contributes to the education of midwifery students and the wider nursing and allied health professional community. In this role, he continues to pursue his passion for supporting, developing, and empowering the next generation of nurses.