Former Elgin man in US president's virus advisory team
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A FORMER Elgin man is among the world's leading health experts currently advising the US president on the handling of coronavirus.
Former Raigmore Hospital nurse and NHS Grampian director of nursing David Benton (62) has been called upon in the current world crisis to advise President Donald Trump.
Dr Benton is head of nursing in the US as CEO of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, based in Chicago, where he has worked since 2015.
A former advisor to the Scottish Government on the future of nursing in Scotland, he attended East End primary and then Elgin Academy between 1969-74.
Dr Benton was called to the profession on seeing his father become ill, an event that prompted him to completely change the course of his life and career.
He departed from his engineering studies background and, after a spell in the Royal Marines, decided to qualify as a general nurse in 1983 and mental health nurse in 1984, in Inverness.
Dr Benton, now the author of many health policy and nursing papers, has earned numerous prestigious global accolades for his outstanding work on behalf of the profession.
At NHS Grampian between 2001-05 Dr Benton brought various nursing providers into an integrated system and strengthened links with nursing departments at Aberdeen and Robert Gordon universities.
Between 2008-15 Dr Benton was CEO of the International Council of Nurses, based in Geneva, Switzerland, representing more than 13 million nurses worldwide, working to improve global health policies and the advancement of nursing knowledge.
Last week it was reported that President Trump responded to pleas from American healthcare workers for more medical equipment to combat coronavirus by saying that it was up to individual states to ensure they were properly stocked.
Healthcare workers said they were running out of surgical masks and raised fears that there won't be enough ventilators to treat coronavirus patients.
Dr Benton said the need for more supplies was raised in a meeting last week at the White House.
He said: "The president did ask about ventilators in terms of how important they were."
He added that the nursing representatives present at the meeting "described to the president how critical these are in terms of getting people back on the road to recovery".
