Belong Atherton Recognised with Top Nursing Accolade

Care leader, Belong Atherton has been awarded the Chief Nurse for Social Care Team Award for its outstanding contribution to social care, namely in its support of the development of students entering the profession.

The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) accolade recognises the dementia specialist’s eight-strong nursing team in its collaboration with Greater Manchester universities, playing a key role in researching student allied health professionals’ (AHPs) training within multidisciplinary care home environments.

Led by The University of Salford, ‘Not the last resort: The longitudinal impact of interprofessional student training care home initiative’ saw undergraduates including those in nursing, physiotherapy, psychotherapy and social work immerse themselves in hands-on training at the Mealhouse Lane care village for the project.

Belong’s award-winning holistic approach to care was selected to facilitate the pilot version of the scheme, with a goal to explore alternatives for training health and social care professionals.

Jemma Sharratt, support manager and nurse at Belong Atherton, commented: “We are pleased to have mentored the students by taking their classroom learning and applying it to real-life experience. They embraced the opportunity and thrived whilst working here and equally, we learned a great deal from our newest colleagues to the profession.”

Last year, the project made the finalist shortlist at the Nursing Times Awards for the Social Care Nursing Accolade.

Belong Atherton general manager and nurse, Nicola Johnstone, added: “With the political conversation around social care in the limelight, we are pleased to promote the fantastic opportunities to build careers in care environments for those working in various disciplines across health and social care.”