Dr Jo Daniels, from the Department of Psychology, has been elected to an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM).

The RCEM’s honorary fellowships recognise individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to emergency medicine, and is seen as the highest accolade they award.

Jo, the first psychologist to ever receive the award, undertook research that has helped to improve the College’s understanding of NHS staff wellbeing and retention. Her evidence has been used in the articulation of challenges emergency department staff face within their roles and how to intervene effectively.

Speaking about the award, Jo Said:

I am absolutely delighted to receive this Honorary Fellowship.

Embedding within the RCEM to focus on policy-driven work has been a fantastic opportunity to advance my understanding of the relationship between research, evidence and policy while building an enduring working partnership.

We know that wellbeing and retention of the NHS workforce is a key research priority area, particularly following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I am pleased that the role of mental health and wellbeing in fully understanding and resolving these issues has been recognised as important and worthy of recognition.

I hope to use this platform to encourage others in my profession to pursue collaborations that allow the embedding of subject experts in policy settings, ensuring that policy is evidence and context-driven.

I am grateful to the RCEM for the extraordinary opportunities the collaboration has offered, and thanks are also extended to UKRI Policy fund for supporting the secondment.

Jo has engaged in research and policy work with the RCEM since 2019 and was seconded to work within the College in 2021/22. During that time she helped to generate evidence-based insights to improve staff support and retention. This work has been cited in national policy documents and used to underpin national and international campaigns

She has since continued this research and policy work in the field and is now collaborating with the International Federation of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Health and Social Care.