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A career in nursing

Anthony Carr has had two interesting careers. The first was in nursing and shown below and later in the Christian ministry. See 'As an ordained minister'.

Any papers referred to in this script can be found under Writing/Published papers on this site.

1951-1956 Anthony entered general nurse training at Selly Oak Hospital Birmingham at 18 years having spent six months first as a ward orderly. After qualifying as a State Registered Nurse (1954). successively held posts of Staff Nurse and Night Charge Nurse at this Hospital (1955-1956).

 

1956-1959 He left nursing for four years and worked as an Industrial Sales Representative for a Manufacturing Heating Company first in Birmingham then in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

1959 - 1963 District Nurse, City of Birmingham Public Health Department & Lecturer in Health Education, City of Birmingham Education Department.

Obtained the first qualification entitled National District Nursing Certificate having number 4 on his certificate. He also qualified as a Queen's Nurse.

1963-1965 Assistant Matron in charge Joseph Sheldon Hospital Rednal.(Rehabilitation hospital for the elderly.) Commissioned this New hospital.

Established the first purpose built staff nursery in the country. See 'So you want to start a nursery?(1965).  'Compulsory geriatric nursing' (1965) ' Modern Geriatrics with others' (1964). Training nurses to care for the elderly (1965)

1965-1967 Midlands Area Officer of the Royal College of Nursing,

1967-1969 Principal of the William Rathbone Staff College Liverpool. A residential management training college.

Achievements included changing the present nursing course to a middle management course run jointly by the College and the School of Business Studies of the University of Liverpool. The fees taken for this oversubscribed monthly course allowed the inside of the College and its 30 bedrooms to be refurnished.

1970-1972 Chief Nursing Officer Central Wirral Hospital Management Committee (9 hospitals & head of Nursing Training School).

Anthony introduced the Salmon scheme of nurse management to the hospitals. See 'Salmon-A Leap into the Future' (1971) Taking the oldest Cadet course in the country (1943) and changing it into a modern educational model to attract young people with good ‘O’ levels to enter nurse training. 24 young people at 16 years entered with a minimum of 2 ‘O’ levels and in two year had to achieve at least three more in specific subjects. A full time nurse teacher was appointed to work in the College for four days and manage a supervised experience in hospital. A Staff Appraisal scheme including self-appraisal was also introduced.

1972-1984 Chief Nursing Officer Newcastle-Upon-Tyne (Teaching) Health Authority ( 17 hospitals and the community nursing services in the city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne & Head of largest Nurse Training School in the UK)

Previously this Authority consisted of three hospital groups. The former Board of Governors based on the Royal Victoria Infirmary (650 beds), The Hospital Management Committee of the Newcastle General Hospital (1085 beds) and the Mental Hospital Group based on St. Nicholas Hospital (800 beds). In 1976 a further general hospital was commissioned named Freeman Hospital.

In 1974 the community services of District Nursing, Health Visiting, Community Midwifery and School Nursing was transferred to the Health Authority.

Anthony’s main task was to bring the nursing services into one large group of services. He did this by delegating large areas of responsibility to staff with equal authority needed to carry out their functions. Ward sisters were offered training for the Further Education Teachers Certificate of the City and Guilds (730). Later a large post-graduate scheme was created with twelve post-basic courses offered to qualified staff. A scheme to allow staff to obtain PhD’s was created in co-operation with what was to become the Northumbria University with the first four out of six candidates eventually becoming professors of nursing. See ‘Partners in Tyne (1983)

A communication system of policies and guidance was issued to staff on a regular basis.

In the 1970's he became chairman of two important working parties at the department of health. In 1975 he chaired a working party of the Education and Training of SRN/RGN in District Nursing and later chaired another group on the Education and Training of the Enrolled Nurse in the Community. Action on the former report resulted in district nurse training being moved to colleges of further and higher education and paved the way for the present degree in district nursing. For this work he was honoured by the Royal College of Nursing by the award of Fellowship of the College. (See citation of Royal College of Nursing)

He was one of four members of a committee (Cumberlege) set up by the Secretary of State for Health in 1985 to review the Community Nursing Services in England. The subsequent report Neighbourhood Nursing had a great impact upon the management of the community nursing services.

 

Anthony also was either appointed or elected to the following professional organisations bodies/government bodies.

  • Director & Chairman of Board of Management Gilgal Community Project
  • Member RCN Council for 16 years (various periods)
  • Chairman of Council, Institute of Health Education
  • President District Nursing Association & A vice-president
  • President Practical Work Teachers Association
  • Founder Chairman of Regional, Area & District Nursing Officers Group of the RCN
  • Elected Member English National Board for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting
  • Appointed Member UKCC Joint Committee on District Nursing
  • Department of Health Nominee Panel of Assessors for District Nursing & Deputy Chairman of its Education Committee
  • Member Council of the Queen's Nursing Institute


Management Consultancy

At 52 years, through illness, he retired from the NHS and became a management consultant under the name AJC Consultants. Among his clients were Cow & Gate and the Royal College of Midwives. He still kept in contact with the NHS becoming a non-executive director of Solihull primary Care NHS Trust in 1997 and vice chairman of the Trust in 1998 until 2003. Until 2012 he was a Lay Hospital Manager under the Mental Health Act reviewing patients detained under that act.

 

 

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