Care England, the representative body for independent social care providers, has appointed two honorary nursing advisors, Trish Morris-Thompson and Deborah Sturdy.

This forms part of the body’s strategy to “tackle the shortage of nurses in the sector”.

Morris-Thompson (pictured) is currently director of quality and clinical governance at Barchester Healthcare. Before joining Barchester Healthcare, she was chief nurse at NHS London.

Sturdy currently provides independent consultations to national projects across the care sector. Previously, she worked as nurse advisor for elderly people at the Department of Health for 10 years.

Care England chief executive, Martin Green, said: “Ms Sturdy and Prof[essor] Morris-Thompson are both consummate professionals who live the values of health and social care… They are both creative and innovative thinkers, who are prominent nurse leaders and opinion formers, and it will be of enormous benefit to Care England and the independent sector to have their expertise, experience and input into policy.”