Trustee
Colonel Margaret-Ann Hodge RRC MSc PGDip BSc RN, known as Maggie, is Chief Nursing Officer for Defence and a senior registered nurse with over 30 years’ experience across clinical practice, operational healthcare, workforce transformation and strategic leadership.
She has a clinical background in critical care nursing, with early experience gained in Glasgow and New Zealand before commissioning into the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps in 2001. Her operational experience includes deployments to the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq and South Sudan, where she served as Senior Nursing Officer.
As Chief Nursing Officer for Defence, Maggie provides strategic nursing leadership, direction and professional advice on behalf of the Surgeon General. She is responsible for strengthening the nursing contribution to Defence Medical and Healthcare Capability, supporting current and future healthcare commitments in the UK and on operations.
Throughout her career, she has held a range of clinical, education, workforce and command appointments. These include Officer in Charge of critical care, Defence Operational Clinical Network roles, Officer Commanding the Health Care Assistant School, Career Manager for Nursing and Allied Health Professional Officers, and the senior nursing role working to CNO(Army). She has also led work on professional standards, fitness to practise, nursing policy and future workforce change programmes.
Maggie was awarded the Royal Red Cross in 2022 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to military nursing. She was a Florence Nightingale Foundation Scholar, having completed the programme in 2020, and has since championed leadership development opportunities for Defence nurses, including securing support for Army nurses to undertake Florence Nightingale Foundation scholarships.
She is passionate about compassionate leadership, professional development and creating the conditions for nurses to thrive. As a Trustee of the Florence Nightingale Foundation, she brings strategic leadership, governance experience and a strong commitment to developing nursing and midwifery leaders who can influence positive change across healthcare systems.
