Paula joined the NMC in 2021 and is Senior Adviser for Advanced Practice. Paula is a registered general nurse, trained in Australia and moved to the UK in 1995. Paula remains clinically active as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner in general practice. Paula has worked in a variety of roles within acute, primary and community services, higher education and transformation, involved in the development of GP Federations and Training Hubs. Paula was involved in setting up volunteer ‘health champions’ in GP practices and developing research practices to improve patient outcomes. Paula is currently leading the work of the NMC to introduce additional approaches to the regulation for advanced level nursing and midwifery practice. Paula’s wider interests include population health and supporting equitable access to high quality services, as well as supporting high quality learning opportunities and supporting future workforce development across health and social care.