SCNACs Regional Chairs and Co-Chairs
At our opening session of the Birmingham NEC Care Show in October 2023, ‘Have an Outstanding Inspection Day. Climbing the (CQC Single Assessment) Framework.’ the Outstanding Society Director, Ruth French, was joined on the panel by CQC Inspector Debbie Ho, Pia Rathje-Burton from Skills for Care and Frederick Palmer, a resident of The Close Care Home, Burcott in Oxfordshire.
Frederick Palmer, known to his friends as Fred, an 84-year-old retired architect, town planner and magistrate, was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. He graduated in Architecture from McGill University in Montreal and then in Town Planning from Edinburgh University.
For the last 25 years of his working life, he was a Planning Inspector for the Central Government, where he held public inquiries into planning appeals throughout England and Wales. These were cases where a District Council had refused to grant planning permission, and the applicant lodged an appeal. His decisions on these appeals were final. In 1986, he was appointed as a Magistrate to sit on criminal cases.
Fred with his late wife, Helen, have 2 daughters and a granddaughter. In 1982 Fred and Helen bought a Victorian Old Vicarage, with 3 acres of land in Wiltshire. Instead of getting a job, Helen wanted to see if she could feed their family for free, which she largely did. On the smallholding they kept sheep, a beef cow, a variety of poultry, a vegetable & fruit garden, an orchard and a woodland which they planted to feed their wood burner. Helen was able to sell surplus meat from the smallholding to buy what she could not produce herself.
In 1998 at the age of 59, Fred suffered a stroke which left him with mobility, hearing, and speech issues. However, he believes it did not affect his mind! Fred had always wanted to learn to fly. He was determined not to allow the stoke to ruin his life and made up his mind to try. He qualified as a licenced pilot in 2009, aged 70 and has now flown hundreds of hours solo or with passengers.
Following the formation of the Social Care Nurse Advisory Councils in 2022, we have reflected on the work the councils have done, where we have seen some incredible work.
I am conscious that we have seen people stepping down and the reluctance of people to come forward to fill gaps, and I am concerned that we are leaving some colleagues behind. There is very little resource to support this work, and we have decided to ensure more robust governance, better comms, meeting recording, and dissemination. We re-grouped into 7 regional councils with connections to the ICB footprint within them.
The voice of social care nursing needs to be heard, and we all have a responsibility to ensure it is. The contribution social care nursing makes to the health and social care system is critical. In a system made up of 19,000 providers, this is inevitably no mean feat for us. Creating a structure that can help bring those voices together and ensure they are represented within the profession and within the system is key.
The newly formed 7 regional super Social Care Nurse Advisory Councils (SCNACs) will be key influencers on the footprint of ICS and provide a link for ICB nurses to use their knowledge and experience to help inform thinking and considerations of an inclusive professional nursing agenda
We look after the same people at different times on their care continuum, and working together, we can utilise opportunity and resources to best effect.
The chairs of these councils have now been established, and the table below sets this out. The Outstanding Society will be hosting the website where you can find further information about your region.
We need you to participate, contribute and be active in your regions.
| REGION | CHAIR | CO-CHAIR |
|---|---|---|
| North East and Yorkshire | Anthony Birmingham | Karen Roberts |
| North West | Karen Davies | Michelle Howarth |
| East of England | Helen Jackson | Louise Jenkins |
| Midlands | Anita Astle | Jo-Anne Wilson |
| London | Nuno Santos Lopes | Louise Keane |
| South East | Zoë Fry | Scarlett MacDonald |
| South West | Charlotte Fry | Emily Pimm |
The chairs will work with colleagues from other organisations to strengthen the voice and influence, galvanise support, and ensure that meetings and minutes are available to you all as partners in those efforts.
Through these councils, we can come together and, in partnership with others, be a strong advocate for each other and help to shape the future of care wherever that is delivered and ensure we as a profession are at the centre of finding solutions, making use of opportunities and stand proud of our specialism.
The Outstanding Society will be hosting the chairs and providing secretariat support from a DHSC grant. The Chairs will be in touch in the coming weeks to share plans.
Scan the QR code or follow this link to find the relevant contact details for the different regions.
For general enquires please contact Sonia on admin.scnac@theoutstandingsociety.co.uk
The appointed chairs and co-chairs are forming their councils. The first regional meetings will be held in June 2024 and quarterly thereafter.
If you are a registered nurse, student or nursing associate working within the sector and would like to be considered for a seat on the Council to help shape the future of care, please contact Sonia or the regional chair/co-chair to learn more.
