We are delighted to announce that our operations manager, Caron Sanders-Crook, has been awarded the Chief Nursing Officer for Adult Social Care Gold Award in recognition of her outstanding services to social care.
Caron, who last year became a Queen’s Nurse, received her certificate in person from Professor Deborah Sturdy, the Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, at Willows Care Home yesterday.
Caron has worked for Canford Healthcare as an operations manager for six years, overseeing the managers and staff of four residential and nursing homes. She is well respected for the way she supports people to work together to deliver high-quality service, going above and beyond to provide her managers and staff with appropriate advice, encouraging others to find answers for themselves and supporting their decisions. As a Dare to Care champion, Caron has creative ideas on how to improve services and processes – each of her homes has achieved a ‘Good’, with three receiving ‘Outstanding’ in the Responsive category. She is also a passionate ambassador for the Canford values and behaviours – everything she does is underpinned by compassionate care for those she works with. She delivers excellence at all times and supports others to do the same.
Alongside her work within Canford Healthcare, Caron has many other professional commitments. She is a member of both the Chief Nursing Officer-Adult Social Care (CNO-ASC) Nursing and Care Advisory and the Covid-19 Legacy Social Care groups, and took part in the (then) Minister of State for Social Care – Round Table Discussion with Helen Whately – Women’s Call for Evidence in developing the first Women’s Health Strategy for the UK. She is also the author of Amazon best-seller Behind The Smiles, a no-holds barred exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its impact on individuals and families, based on her personal experiences.
A delighted Caron says: “This is an amazing honour in recognition of my contribution to nursing and social care. I am so pleased and proud to have been recognised with this prestigious award. I love nursing – I am actually in love with nursing, and have been since I was a child! I have been privileged enough to contribute to so many aspects of health and social care, but connecting with people who use the services and their families is where the magic really happens. I believe that this magic is what influences and brings about change.”
Professor Sturdy adds: “I am delighted to be giving Caron a Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care Gold award today, in recognition of her contribution to this wonderful profession over many years. Caron is a passionate advocate for social care nursing and demonstrates the values of person-centred care in all she does. She values everyone she works with and strives continuously to improve the quality of care for individuals, their families and loved ones.”
Claudia Ramsamy, home manager of Willows Care Home, nominated Caron for the award. She says: “I am constantly amazed by her leadership skills and the breadth of her knowledge. I became manager of Willows at the start of the pandemic. As my mentor, Caron helped me to improve my
management skills at a difficult time. I believe her support was instrumental in helping me keep the home Covid free in the early days and making difficult decisions to facilitate that.”
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