John Greene

John Greene (8 September 1916 - 1 May 2001) was an Irish-born chief nursing officer known for his work in the field of mental health nursing and introducing community psychiatric nursing.

Early life Greene was born on 8 September 1916 in County Clare, Ireland. His mother died when he was eight years old, during the birth of her tenth child. Greene left school at 14 and worked as a labourer. In 1935, aged 18, Greene moved to England to join his brother who was already working in private nursing. Six of his nine siblings became nurses.

Early career Greene initially gained experience in private mental hospitals in Bedford and Essex prior to moving to Herrison Hospital, Dorset, to undertake formal nurse training 1937-1940. In 1939 he qualified as a mental nurse gaining the Royal Medico-Psychological Association's certificate. In 1943/1944, he was deployed in duties on a hospital ship in the Indian Ocean caring for men with physical and mental trauma. He cared for ex-prisoners of war in Colombo. He rose to the rank of petty officer and was demobbed in March 1946.

Later career Following demobilisation, Greene returned to Herrison Hospital and in 1951 worked in Moorhaven Hospital, Devon, becoming Chief Male Nurse in 1953. While at Moorhaven, Greene contributed to the development of community psychiatric services, a new venture for that period. He advocated for a psychiatric service that extended into the community encompassing continued care, liaison with other community teams and support for families. He was appointed Chief Nursing Officer for Cornwall in 1969 and for Gloucestershire Area Health Authority in 1974. He retired in 1978 at the age of 62. He spent his last day of employment nursing elderly patients in a hospital in Gloucester, thus bringing his career full circle. In 1963, he was appointed to the Salmon Committee which reported and made recommendations on staff structures in the NHS.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Greene served on the Central Health Services Council and the Standing Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee as an adviser to successive governments. He served on enquiry committees into standards of care in psychiatric hospitals. In 1977, he became part of a Department of Health & Social Security working group reviewing functioning of mental illness hospitals. He promoted the interests and developments of nurse managers and administrators.

Greene founded The Association of Chief and Principal Nursing Officers for Mental Hospitals. He negotiated amalgamation with the Association of Hospital Matrons to form the Association of Nurse Administrators, becoming the first male president of that association 1976-1979. He continued in this role after his retirement. He carried out a project to document, catalogue and photograph hospital tile pictures, many of which were being lost as hospitals were renovated or demolished. He was able to get an appeal for information on the location of tiles on Blue Peter, the popular children's television programme. He published his work in his book Brightening the long days: hospital tile pictures.

Greene died suddenly at his home in Cheltenham on 1 May 1971. A memorial service was held at the Friends Meeting House in Cheltenham.