Mrs. Tracy Nicholls

Tracy began her career in 1995 at Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance Service, now part of East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) where she worked on patient transport services before progressing to the role of technician and then paramedic.

In 2001, she was promoted to station manager at Luton before heading up the service’s Training and Education Department in 2004.

Over the next decade, Tracy’s career journey saw her hold down a number of important roles within EEAST including Acting Head of Quality Governance and Head of Clinical Quality. In 2018, she was appointed Director of Clinical Quality and Improvement at EEAST, becoming the first female paramedic to serve on any ambulance service board in a clinical role in the country.

Throughout Tracy’s professional working life, she has been an active and dedicated member of the College of Paramedics. Her desire to promote and strengthen the paramedic profession across the UK made her a natural choice to become the organisation’s new Chief Executive in 2019. Since then, she has managed to propel the College of Paramedics to even greater heights, despite years of turbulence within the healthcare system, brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tracy was awarded an OBE in the King’s New Year’s Honours in January 2023 for services to the Paramedic profession
Guest speaker as part of NHS75 talk series