Trevor Clay

Reginald Trevor Clay, CBE, FRCN (10 May 1936 – 23 April 1994) was an English nurse and former General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). His obituary in the Times described him as the most influential nurse of his times.

Early life Reginald Clay, known as Trevor, was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, the eldest of the six children of Joseph and Florence Clay. He then went on to train as a Mental Health Nurse at the Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals in London, registering in 1960. He was a staff nurse, then charge nurse, working with David Stafford-Clark on psychotherapy services at Guys Hospital. He then took up post as assistant matron in the new psychiatric department of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital at Welwyn Garden City. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 1985.

Later life Clay retired from the RCN due to his declining health. The occasion was marked with a reception in the Banqueting Hall, Whitehall In retirement he was active as vice president of the International Council of Nurses and in founding a Breathe Easy Society, with the British Lung Foundation.

Awards and honours

Clay was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 1985.

Writing He authored the following books: The Workings of the Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee in the National Health Service, 1974 Nurses: power and politics, 1987, Butterworth-Heinemann, London