A BLACK Country paramedic is one of the first to graduate from a programme for aspiring NHS leaders.

At a prestigious ceremony held in Birmingham last week, Joshua Miller, who lives in Kingswinford and works as a community paramedic in Oldbury, graduated from the NHS Leadership Academy’s Mary Seacole Programme.

The 12-month postgraduate programme, named after Mary Seacole – a Jamaican woman who overcame racial and sexual discrimination to become a pioneer of modern nursing, is for people who are new in a leadership position or are aspiring to be a leader in the future.

Joshua said: “I am proud to be part of the first cohort of Mary Seacole Programme graduates and am keen to put my theory into practice to improve patient care in the West Midlands.

“The NHS Leadership Academy funded a suite of programmes to develop leadership capability within the NHS after the Francis Report into Mid Staffordshire Trust highlighted problems in leadership.

“I spoke to and surveyed a number of staff across the trust about their experiences delivering care to cardiac arrest patients, and have begun passing this knowledge not only to our trust but to other ambulance services around the country.”