Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care

Professor Deborah Sturdy was appointed as the first Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care in 2021. She has over 40 years of experience in nursing, spanning roles in management, research, policy and practice within both social care and the NHS.

She is a passionate advocate for the care sector and believes that the workforce is its greatest asset. In her view, developing careers from novice to expert, creating new pathways of opportunity and boosting recognition of care colleagues’ skills, value, and expertise are vital to the future success of the profession and the wider workforce. She brings a wealth of experience and remains grounded in the issues facing colleagues working in direct care through her extensive sector networks.

She holds four Visiting Chairs in Nursing at Manchester Metropolitan University, Buckinghamshire New University, Coventry University, and the University of Salford. Deborah has written numerous papers for publications and has presented at national and international meetings.

In 2015 She was appointed by Norman Lamb, the Minister for Care, as the expert nurse on the Gosport Independent Panel a three year review. The panel’s report, laid before Parliament in 2018, suggested that more than 460 people died as a result of the treatment they received. Operation Magenta, a criminal investigation led by the Serious Crime Unit in the East of England, is ongoing as a result of the panel’s report.

Deborah was awarded a CBE in the 2022 Honours list and an OBE in 2017. She is a Fellow of both the Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI) and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and received the British Geriatrics Society’s President’s Medal for her contribution to older people’s nursing – the first nurse to receive this honour. In July 2023, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Buckinghamshire New University for her contributions to nursing.