Independent health and social care
Northern and Yorkshire & the Humber Independent Sector Nursing
Many of our members are employed in independent health and social care (IHSC) in Northern and the Yorkshire & the Humber regions.
This includes members working in settings outside the NHS such as:
- care homes
- nursing agencies
- independent hospitals
- general practices.
As the voice of nursing, we’re committed to connecting, engaging and representing nursing staff, no matter what sector or setting you’re employed in. This page signposts to useful information and resources about IHSC in Northern and Yorkshire & the Humber regions. For more general information about IHSC across the UK, please see our ‘Nursing across independent health and social care’ page.
You can find more regionally specific information in the sections below. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact Leanne Hume, our Lead Nurse for Independent Health and Social Care (Northern Region): leanne.hume@rcn.org.uk or Michelle Raddings, our Lead Nurse for Independent Health and Social Care (Yorkshire & the Humber Region): michelle.raddings@rcn.org.uk.
They work closely with our member-led Northern and Yorkshire & the Humber Independent Sector Network, to deliver a programme of events and other work promoting the role of nursing in the independent health and care sector.
Together they have delivered several webinars as well as an in-person conference in York, 'Independent Health and Social Care Conference: Innovating Nursing Excellence in Diverse Settings'.
If this sounds like something you would enjoy, you'll be pleased to hear that the network is planning the next in a series of independent sector-focused events.
Keep an eye on the bottom of this webpage, as well as our events listings pages, social media accounts and in your email inbox for more information.
Northern and Yorkshire & the Humber Independent Sector Network
Join our Northern and Yorkshire & the Humber Independent Sector Network by emailing your regional lead and asking them to add you. Staff leads Leanne Hume and Michelle Raddings have worked with members to found a joint regional independent health and social care sector network, a member-led entity co-chaired by Sandra Blades in the Northern region and Cheryl Lythgoe in the Yorkshire & the Humber region.
The network’s inaugural event is planned for 30 October 2024.
Sandra Blades - Northern Co-Chair of the Northern and Yorkshire & the Humber Independent Sector Network
Sandra’s main interest is in promoting person-centred care. After working as a police officer until the late 1990s, she began a new career in the care sector in 1998. She worked as a nursing home administrator, and graduated with an Advanced Diploma in Adult Nursing from Teesside University in 2007. Since qualifying she has worked as a staff nurse at Brierton Lodge care home in Hartlepool, formerly a BUPA care home now owned by HC-One. She continued studying part time and attained a first-class nursing degree and a Master’s in Health and Social Care (End of Life Pathway) with Merit.Sandra established herself as a Gold Standards Framework Coordinator and a Rapid Response Nurse for Marie Curie in County Durham and an education facilitator in South Tyneside. In 2015 the Florence Nightingale Foundation awarded Sandra a travel scholarship to examine end-of-life projects and good practice in Australia’s aged care facilities. She worked with local MPs to promote her findings within the Department of Health, and received a Bupa Clinical Excellence Award for Compassionate Care.
Sandra works with Age UK Teesside and the Citizens Advice Bureau delivering support services for older people, as well as local councils across South Tees, highlighting areas for development and contributing to the area’s joint strategic needs assessments on end-of-life care and dementia-friendly communities.
Sandra has been a member of the RCN Older People’s Forum Steering Committee since 2018, promoting the role of the independent sector nurse in multi-disciplinary teams. She has written blogs for the RCN forum and also recorded podcasts, which can be found on the RCN Older People’s webpages.
General nursing resources
Most of the resources on our website are relevant to all members – no matter what sector or setting you’re employed in.
This includes many of our advice guides and subject guides, as well as the clinical information on RCN Learn.
Become a representative
We are keen to recruit more RCN representatives who work within the independent sector. As an independent sector RCN representative, you would have the opportunity to make an even greater difference to patients and the working lives of your colleagues – as well as increasing your knowledge, developing new and transferable skills, and influencing important decisions.
If this is an area of work that interests you, and if you would like more information about becoming an independent sector RCN representative, please contact leanne.hume@rcn.org.uk.
Page last updated - 04/10/2024
