Johann van Zyl, Chief Executive of the group which specialises in caring for people with challenging behaviours associated with complex neurological, physical and mental health needs, said;

“We fully support the comments expressed by Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, on this matter. We want to show our nurses that they have value equal to their counterparts in the NHS. Our staff are highly skilled in caring for those whose needs are such that other providers have struggled to offer them a permanent home. They provide an essential service where developing their knowledge and skills is vital to providing residents with the very best care.

“We are committed to funding the nursing CPD award in full. Every member of our nursing staff will receive £1,000 for CPD training over a three year period.”

Mr Van Zyl went on to say that the disparity between the two sectors was yet another indication of how poorly social care nursing is regarded.

“We are disappointed to see that social care is again the poor relation. Our nursing staff do their utmost to not only care for those who live with us but to build relationships with NHS nursing staff to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital.

“We have training and mentoring programmes that give NHS nurses experience of the conditions our residents live with and the highly specialist care we offer, so developing our staff’s skills and knowledge has benefits beyond our individual homes.”