A nurse with more than 20 years of experience working with the mental health sector has secured a senior role at St Andrew’s Healthcare.

Catherine Vichare, who has worked at the complex mental health charity for eight years, has been appointed as its new Director of Nursing.

Catherine, who started her nursing career in 2003, was a Modern Matron at St Andrew’s, before she was promoted to the charity’s Clinical Lead at its Birmingham site. More recently she was the Clinical Director in Outpatients’ Service overseeing the service for four years, during which it was rated good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Catherine has led services across multiple NHS and non NHS Providers, and has experience of incorporating social care bodies and third sector organisations. Additionally, she has led teams across a variety of settings, including community mental health, policy and training development, and secure inpatient services.

Catherine said: “I am delighted to have secured this new role and cannot wait to start working closely with our nursing workforce as a key objective I have is to bring our diverse nursing body together as one professional and passionate group.

“I plan to bring these different view-points and experiences together across our nursing workforce, to ensure that all of our service users, whether on a ward, in community living, or at home, have a positive and empowering experience being nursed in our care.”

“My vision is for a charity-wide nursing team who feel accountable for the care they deliver every single day, and empowered to challenge practices that do not support our charity vision to inspire hope.

“I am passionate about elevating the nursing voice, and believe that there should be nursing representation at all levels of the charity, and at local and national forums. I understand the importance of holding my nursing colleagues to account for upholding the standards expected of them, and to support and promote safe practice.

“Having worked within a number of different roles within the charity and in the NHS, I can bring a unique perspective to the role of Director of Nursing, one which understands the fine balance between improving quality nursing care, while bringing efficiencies and innovations that improve the patient experience across our service user groups.

Dr Vivienne McVey, St Andrew’s Healthcare’s CEO, said: “Catherine is a highly valued member of staff who has worked in a number of senior positions, having consistently delivered high quality care and service to all our patients and service users.

“Catherine has always maintained her nursing throughout her St Andrew’s career and nurtured wonderful therapeutic relationships with her patients, with some wonderful hope and recovery stories. She has an extremely caring and compassionate nature, which is why she was perfect as our new Director of Nursing.

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