Mr Daniel Marsden

I am a registered Learning Disability Nurse (RNLD) and Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, with over 30 years of experience across NHS, independent healthcare and academic settings. I hold a Churchill Fellowship, through which I am researching how the loss of specialist learning disability nursing roles in Australia has affected practice leadership and workforce capability in disability services, and what is transferable to England. I chair LIDNAN, the Learning Intellectual Disability Nurse Academic Network, and sit on the NHS England and CoDH Learning Disability Nursing Expert Advisory Group, where national policy and workforce development intersect with frontline practice.

As an Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Approved Trainer (Tier 1 and 2), I deliver teaching mapped to the Core Capabilities Frameworks for Learning Disability and Autism, equipping students across Level 6 and 7 PSRB-accredited courses to provide person-centred care that meets national standards.

My research centres on participatory pedagogy and co-production with Experts by Experience, work grounded in the 4C Framework. I investigate how practice development and participatory methods can reduce health inequities for people with learning disabilities, and I contribute this thinking to international collaboration through the Global Intellectual Disability Nurse Research Collaboratory. Beyond the university, I lead interagency projects with the Integrated Care Board and provide coaching and mentorship to practitioners, academics, and support staff building expertise in this field.

As an Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Approved Trainer (Tier 1 and 2), I deliver teaching mapped to the Core Capabilities Frameworks for Learning Disability and Autism. Students across Level 6 and 7 Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body accredited courses, spanning nursing, paramedic science, occupational therapy, and allied health fields, build the knowledge and skills needed to provide person-centred care for people with learning disabilities and autistic people, in line with national standards and current best practice.

I teach research methods at both BSc and MSc level and supervise dissertation students, several of whom have gone on to publish their work. I currently hold subject leadership for the Big Picture Foundation Year module.

My teaching draws directly on co-production with Experts by Experience, through my work with LOUD (Learning, Observing, Understanding, Disability), the University’s long-running Expert by Experience group, and on participatory pedagogy more broadly, bringing lived experience into the classroom rather than treating it as a topic taught about at a distance.

My research interests are rooted in improving the well-being, inclusion, and health outcomes of people with learning disabilities and autistic people. My work spans the evaluation of education initiatives, participatory methods for reducing health inequities, and international collaboration on the learning disability nursing workforce.

Research Projects

• Churchill Fellowship: Practice Leadership and Workforce Capability in Australian and New Zealand healthcare Services. Fieldwork examining how the loss of specialist learning disability nursing roles in Australia and New Zealand has impacted practice leadership, and what is transferable to England.
• Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training (OMMT) Evaluation. A Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis with Magdalena Walbaum (LSE) and Michelle England, alongside a qualitative pilot evaluation of Tier 2 training.
• Simulated Hospital Admission (SHA) Research Evaluation. Co-produced evaluation of the SHA programme, which has reaches approximately 400 nursing students annually, led by Helen Hatter, with Nicole Pollock, Ciaran Hart, Stephanie Banfield, and Vanessa Cowley.
• Kent and Medway All Age Learning Disability and Autism Programme (LDAP) Service Evaluation. Conducted with participation from four local acute trusts.
• Developing System Learning with the Kent and Medway Learning Disability and Autism System Partnership Group. Working jointly with the Partnership Group, I led a funding bid to support the development of system-wide learning, with George Matuska and David Stephensen.
• Global Intellectual Disability Nurse Research Collaboratory (GIDNRC). International collaboration including a Delphi study on advocacy competencies, with Melissa Desroches, Henrietta Trip, Nathan Wilson, and Katrina Byrne.
• Forthcoming textbook Fundamentals of Learning Disability Nursing, co-edited with Sam Abdulla and published by Wiley, is due for publication in 2027.

Beyond my academic role, I demonstrate system leadership through interagency projects with the Integrated Care Board, driving improvements in services for people with learning disabilities and autistic people across the region. My clinical background spans both NHS and independent settings, including through the Kent Surrey Sussex Learning Disability Community of Practice I founded. I also provide coaching and mentorship to practitioners, academics, and support staff.

I chair LIDNAN (the Learning Intellectual Disability Nurse Academic Network), which brings together learning disability nursing academics across England and has been building governance infrastructure, a Statement of Purpose, and a national provider map tracking the state of pre-registration Learning Disability nursing education.

I sit on the NHS England and CoDH Learning Disability Nursing Expert Advisory Group, contributing to national policy discussions on the Learning Disability nursing workforce.

I hold a Churchill Fellowship, through which I am undertaking international fieldwork in Australia and New Zealand..

I am a long-standing contributor to the Global Intellectual Disability Nurse Research Collaboratory (GIDNRC), an international network of intellectual disability nursing researchers, and a member of IASSIDD (the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities).

I founded the Kent Surrey Sussex Learning Disability Community of Practice.

I am an NHS England Approved Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training Lead Trainer (Tier 1 and 2).