A senior nurse from North Yorkshire has received a national award for her adult social care work.

Sarah Fiori is the principal nurse and head of the quality team at North Yorkshire Council and was honoured with the Chief Nurse Adult Social Care Gold award.

Presented by Deborah Sturdy, the chief nurse for adult social care in England, the award recognises the outstanding contribution made by social care workers and nurses and their ‘skills, expertise and enduring compassion’.

Sarah has held a variety of nursing posts in acute and community NHS settings and was previously a research sister for academic and commercial trials.

She now works jointly with North Yorkshire Council and the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

The council’s quality team provides quality oversight and support to the care sector and practical, hands-on support to care providers where needed.

As a result of the response to the Covid pandemic, the service was expanded, before becoming an integrated team. This was initially on a pilot basis, with staff working alongside NHS colleagues. Sarah has been head of quality during this period.

She was nominated by Michelle Carrington, North Yorkshire and York director of nursing and quality at the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

The nomination was supported by North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director of adult social care, Rachel Bowes.

Michelle Carrington said: “(Sarah’s) approach of inclusion and engagement with the sector has led to strong and trusting relationships with providers who have embraced all that is on offer.

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“This includes a comprehensive range of patient safety training to establish a bedrock of safer care culture and a suite of supportive, effective training to ensure resilient homes, confident staff and residents protected from harm.

“It is rare to come across an individual who has innovated and improved quality in such a short time and in equal collaboration with partners, residents and staff.”

Sarah said she was “surprised but thrilled” to receive the award.

“It is a privilege to be able to work with staff and those in receipt of care across a diverse range of settings and to know I play a part in supporting positive experiences for some of the most vulnerable individuals within our communities,” she said.

“Working in social care as a nurse or care professional provides the opportunity to really use all our nursing skills. It is a rewarding career I would recommend to anyone.”

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for health and adult services, Cllr Michael Harrison, said: “Sarah is constantly looking for ways to improve the service for those who deliver it and she should be very proud of what she has achieved.”