Sarah Mullally
Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally DBE (née Bowser; born 26 March 1962) is a British Anglican prelate and former nurse. Bishop of London since 2018,[1][2][3] she is the first woman to hold this office and sits on the Lord Spiritual benches in the House of Lords. From 1999 to 2004, she was Chief Nursing Officer for England and the National Health Service's director of patient experience for England; from 2015 to 2018, she served as Bishop of Crediton, a suffragan bishop in the diocese of Exeter.
Dame Sarah Mullally
25 January 2018
12 May 2018
- Chief Nursing Officer for England (1999–2004)
- Bishop of Crediton (2015–2018)
2001 (deacon)
2002 (priest)
22 July 2015
by Justin Welby
2
Early life and education[edit]
Born Sarah Elisabeth Bowser on 26 March 1962,[4] the younger of two daughters, she was educated at Winston Churchill Comprehensive School, Woking, Surrey, then at Woking Sixth Form College. While studying for A levels she decided to become a nurse rather than a doctor because she wanted to apply a holistic approach to patient care.[5] Her choice of career was also motivated by her Christian faith, which she has held since the age of 16.[5]
In 1980, she started reading for a nursing degree at South Bank Polytechnic,[6] with clinical placements at St Thomas' Hospital, and was awarded joint Registered General Nurse (RGN) status and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in 1984.[4] In 1992, she completed a Master of Science (MSc) degree in inter-professional health and welfare studies at London South Bank University.[4]
Nursing career[edit]
Mullally held clinical nursing posts at St Thomas' Hospital and The Royal Marsden Hospital (where she completed their specialist nursing course). She held a number of nursing leadership roles, firstly at the former Westminster Hospital (where she was a Ward Sister and head of practice development) and then as director of nursing at the Chelsea and Westminster later becoming deputy and acting chief executive officer. In 1999 she was appointed as Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Patient Experience for England: she was the youngest person to hold these positions. She has been a non-executive director of the English Board of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting.[7]
Mullally served as an independent Governor for London South Bank University between 2005 and 2015, where she became Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Governors and Chairwoman of the Policy and Resources Committee.[8] She was a non-executive director of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust from 2005 to 2012,[5][9] and held a non-executive role at Salisbury NHS Foundation between 2012 and 2016.[10] Mullally became a lay member of the Council of King's College London in 2016.[11]
Personal life[edit]
In 1987, she married Eamonn Mullally; the couple have a daughter and a son.[39][40]
Following her appointment as Bishop of London, Mullally moved into the Old Deanery of St Paul's, making alterations made to the property, including the construction of an oratory in a former laundry room in which she prays the rosary and other Marian devotions and presides at weekly eucharistic adorations.[41]
Mullally has stated that she has dyslexia, and finds it difficult to read out biblical genealogies.[5]