Sue has worked in the NHS since 1983, after initially starting her career as a librarian. Sue trained as a nurse, then midwife and worked clinically for over 15 years before developing her interest in organisational development and learning. Sue worked as an Executive Director in a Teaching Trust before moving to become the Lead Improvement Director for NHSI in 2015. For five years Sue worked with Trusts in Quality and Financial Special Measures and in 2019, she became the National Director for Intensive Support.

In June 2022, Sue joined Advancing Quality Alliance (Aqua) as its new Chief Executive Officer.  Sue believes it is more ‘how’ we go about supporting organisations than ‘what’ we do as a key part to enabling organisations to learn how to improve and sustain improvement, based upon clear leadership and the application of improvement science aligned to clear governance.   In 2024 Sue moved into the Chair role at Aqua and in 2025 she was appointed to the Maternity and Neonatal Assurance Assessment Oversight Panel – a newly formed expert group tasked with evaluating the safety and quality of maternity and neonatal services across Wales.