A qualified nurse with 40 years’ experience has been appointed as the new Deputy Director of Education and Training at St Andrew’s Healthcare.

Alison Bardsley, joins the complex mental health charity from the Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) where she was the Assistant Director for Professional, Practice, Education and Training.

There she was responsible for pre and post registration education, international recruitment, library services and mandatory training for all nurses.

During her three-year tenure at NHFT she trained as a professional nurse advocate providing restorative supervision for staff and working to facilitate quality improvement projects within service teams. But one of Alison’s key career highlights was her involvement in the Excel Nightingale Hospital in London, where she oversaw many of the wards during the pandemic.  

Alison began her career St Bartholomew's Hospital in London where she qualified in 1988.

Over the years she has worked in a variety of roles including gastro surgery, where she went on to become a stoma care nurse specialist, before moving to a hospice to specialise in palliative care.

She has also worked in the community, having qualified as a District Nurse, before becoming a Community Bladder and Bowel Specialist Nurse. Her experience in that sector led her to work in incontinence services for Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire and she later became Chair of the Royal College of Nursing Continence Forum for six years.

Additionally, Alison became involved in the International Continence Society and she has also contributed to a large number of NICE guidelines outlining care for patients who suffer from the condition.

Her new role at St Andrew’s Healthcare will see her take full responsibility for operational delivery across the charity and leadership of relevant charity-wide projects. She will also develop and enhance the charity’s learning and development framework, assess and evaluate learning outcomes and develop career pathways that are focussed on building internal capabilities.

Alison said: “I am thrilled to have been appointed as Deputy Director for Education and Training. I am passionate about ensuring staff have access to the right education, training and research, as I feel that excellent, safe and effective care is provided by staff who feel confident and competent in their roles.

“The charity has some unique and highly specialised services with a wealth of expertise amongst its staff. I am very much looking forward to supporting staff, and the charity to grow and develop into a centre of excellence for patients with complex mental health needs”.

Dr Sanjith Kamath, St Andrew’s Healthcare’s Executive Medical Director and Director for Education and Training, said: “Alison is well known within the nursing sector and is highly respected by her peers and colleagues.

“She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and extensive experience which will be invaluable to us as we continue to deliver our strategy which is about inspiring hope within all those who we care for.

“We’re confident she will make a great addition to St Andrew’s and play a pivotal role as we continue our journey towards becoming a leader in helping people with complex mental health need transform their lives.

 “As a charity we are focussed on providing consistently high quality care for our patients and Alison is a passionate advocate of excellence in training, with a proven track record of leading on successful and complex patient projects.”