Marimouttou Coumarassamy
Deputy chief operating officer, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, founder and chair, British Indian Nurses Association
Marimouttou Coumarassamy is the deputy chief operating officer at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (BSMHFT). He is also the founder and chair of the British Indian Nurses Association (BINA). Mr Coumarassamy has worked across mental health specialties and has been highly recognised by the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ quality network and the Care Quality Commission.
After completing his nurse training in 1994, Mr Coumarassamy migrated from India to the UK, where he earned an MSc degree in forensic mental healthcare, an MBA in health executive, and completed NHS Leadership Academy programmes.
Due to his lived experience, he has an interest in addressing equity and diversity issues in the UK healthcare system. Mr Coumarassamy wishes to unite health professionals of Indian origin working in the UK, which is one of the reasons he created BINA. This was launched by the then chief nursing officer for England Ruth May in 2020.
Mr Coumarassamy has also presented his research papers at international conferences and was chosen by the Health Service Journal as one of the 50 most influential BAME people in health. As well as this, he is the recipient of the ‘inclusive leadership’ award from BSMHFT and a Commonwealth Games medal for bringing the games to patients, and was a finalist in the National BAME Health and Care Awards.
Marimouttou Coumarassamy is speaking at the following session on Wednesday 23 October:
What is the future of leadership in nursing?