Deborah Sturdy is the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care
As people working in or with the care sector, we all want the best for residents, colleagues and the communities around us. Let’s give them even greater peace of mind by getting vaccinated for flu and COVID-19 and make this the safest, healthiest winter we can.
Social care bodies across England have joined together to announce a Social Care Day of Remembrance and Reflection. It will take place, next year, on 22 March and be a day to honour the work of the adult social care workforce and remember those we lost. Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Deborah Sturdy, explains the background...
"As part of the record 36 billion investment to reform the NHS and social care, the Prime Minister’s announcement of at least £500 million funding for the care workforce across three years is very welcome", says Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in her new blog marking the Prime Minister's recent announcement on social care reform.
COVID-19 vaccination has to be comprehensive to be truly effective as protection – particularly for those most vulnerable to infection. While the SAGE recommended levels of at least 80% of care home staff and 90% of residents have been reached and exceeded in many parts of England, regional variation persists.
Deborah Sturdy, our Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, explains why the Government, following wide consultation with the care sector, has taken the difficult decision to make vaccination a mandatory condition of deployment in care homes.
Deborah Sturdy is delighted to announce the launch of the first ever Chief Nurse Adult Social Care Awards, rewarding the significant and outstanding contribution made by care workers and nurses in England. Find out how you can nominate the great and the good of social care.
Last month, the Department of Health and Social Care launched an open consultation seeking your views on making vaccination a condition of deployment in older adult care homes, to protect the people most at risk in our communities. The consultation remains open until Friday 21 May 2021. Many of you have contributed, but we still need many more views to help us make the best informed judgment possible for care home staff and residents.
"March has been the month when women’s contribution to the health, wealth and prosperity of our world has been emphatically celebrated. We want to tap into this rich resource of skills, empathy and lived experience" says Deborah Sturdy, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care. "Earlier this month, we launched a consultation to inform a new Women’s Health Strategy. We need your views, concerns and ideas to help shape it and make it truly fit for purpose."
The roll out of new vaccines has offered a ray of hope during this challenging time. Deborah Sturdy, our Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care is delighted so many care home staff and residents have now been offered their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Deborah emphasises just how vital it it that everyone who can take up the offer of vaccination does so when their turn comes. She received the first dose recently and will be taking up the second in the next few months.
This is Deborah Sturdy, Interim Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care's first blog of 2021 and one which she finds herself posting in unprecedented times. She is nonetheless honoured to have this opportunity to work with - not just the nursing profession - but the whole social care workforce, as together the sector strives to meet the continuing challenges of COVID-19.