Nicola Bullen is an Workforce Health leader with extensive experience across NHS system leadership, primary care, organisational development, and workforce transformation, holding both local and national roles. She is Associate Director, Occupational Health and Wellbeing, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Deputy Chair, The NHS Health at Work Network, Director, Occupational Health Liaison, iOH – The Association of Occupational Health.

With a career spanning over two decades, Nicola specialises in reducing sickness absence, improving staff health and wellbeing, and designing population-level health models that integrate evidence-based practice with operational realities.

She has led major programmes aligned with NHS England’s Growing Occupational Health & Wellbeing Strategy, the NHS Long Term Plan, SEQOHS accreditation, and national-level health improvement priorities. Her work includes developing data-driven models that tackle mental health, MSK, women’s health, and inequality-driven sickness patterns.

Nicola is known for blending strategic insight with practical, frontline-focused solutions, ensuring organisations achieve measurable improvements in staff health, culture, and performance. She brings a strong voice for compassionate leadership, prevention, and the role of workforce wellbeing as a core enabler of high-quality care.

For this conference, Nicola will present a live 6-week Enhanced Sickness Absence Improvement Project, demonstrating how rapid diagnostics and targeted interventions can reshape outcomes at scale.