"Nursing's in my blood" admits Springhill Manager

Anne-Marie Potter RGN takes over the role from Kath Parkinson, who is retiring to work part time on special projects at the company's Cannon Street headquarters.

The announcement  was released by Springhill's Board of Directors to coincide with National Nurses' Week, an annual event held in May to celebrate the birthday of Florence Nightingale and promote the nursing profession.

As the fourth generation nurse within her own family,  Anne-Marie admits: "Nursing must be in my blood!" and was keen to celebrate the historic event with her new staff at the Fairfield Street home.

One of her first jobs was to thank the caring workforce for making her so welcome  and remind them of the value of their jobs delivering quality care to the home's 75 residents.  Banners and literature promoting the week were evident throughout the home and Anne-Marie donned an apron to adopt a ' hands on' approach working alongside nursing staff to foster team morale.

She said: "Nursing is all I ever wanted to do. My mum, grandma and even my grandfather were nurses so I guess I was always inspired by them."

Entering the profession at 18, Anne-Marie trained as an RGN at Bolton General Hospital and has managed care homes in the past. Prior to her appointment at Springhill, she was Operations Manager for Sue Ryder Care, covering all eight complex care neurological services for the charity across England and Scotland.

Ready for a new challenge, she  was keen to take on a new post that would bring her closer to the delivery of direct care and Springhill fitted the bill.

She said: "Right from the start I liked the caring ethos of Springhill and was particularly impressed that the Management involved the home's residents, relatives and staff in the interview process. It just felt right!  Springhill is facing an exciting future with new service developments afoot and I'm thrilled to be taking over at such an exciting time."

Springhill's Managing Director Donna Briggs said: " There is no doubt Kath Parkinson - who has worked for Springhill Care Home since it opened - will be a hard act to follow. But I am certain Anne-Marie is the right person to replace her. We are delighted to have attracted someone with such vast professional  experience. Her heart is clearly in her job and I am sure she will be an inspiration to staff and residents."

Married to husband  Shaun, Anne-Marie lives in Lostock Hall, near Preston. She has two grown up daughters - one of whom works as a care assistant in a nursing home.   When not working she loves spending time with her two young grandchildren and riding pillion on her husband's motor bike at weekends.