CEO picks up Outstanding Contribution Award

Our Chief Executive Neil Matthewman, has been recognised for an incredible 32-year career in care, picking up the Outstanding Contribution to Social Care Award at Saturday’s Great North West Care Awards in Manchester.

The Great North West Care Awards, supported by the Department of Health, are part of the Great British Care Awards, a series of regional awards which celebrate the excellence of those who work in the care sector. As regional champion, Neil will go on to represent the North West in the national final in 2015.

Neil Matthewman began his career in care in 1982, as a porter at Doncaster Royal Hospital, and has risen through the ranks to become the Chief Executive of Community Integrated Care. Throughout this astonishing journey, he has been driven by changing society, improving wellbeing and changing lives.

Upon graduation, Neil took a job in a NHS training scheme, and over the course of a decade had a rapid ascent through acute and mental health hospitals in Yorkshire, ultimately becoming the Director of Planning at Burnley NHS. In 2003, he was employed to modernise Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. This was followed by a move to 5 Boroughs NHS Trust in 2005, where he held the position of Executive Director of Service Development and, for nine months, acted as the Trust’s Chief Executive. 

In 2009, Neil was appointed as Director of Commissioning by Blackburn With Darwen PCT. Whilst in Blackburn, Neil was responsible for the overall commissioning of services and development. This included the integration of NHS commissioning services with those of the local authority, resulting in an annual transfer of £85 million to what eventually became a Care Trust Plus. He was appointed as Managing Director of the Care Plus Trust in 2010.

In 2011, Neil was appointed as Chief Executive of Community Integrated Care and was tasked with modernising the organisation. He has excelled in this role – developing an ambitious strategy that has the aim becoming ‘The UK’s Leading Health and Social Care Charity’ and overseeing a programme of investment and organisational development to achieve it.

Community Integrated Care also had five further finalists on the night, with the charity itself shortlisted for the Care Employer Award. Deputy CEO Cath Murray-Howard was shortlisted for the Care Innovator Award, while Regional Director Graham Birkett was up for the Frontline Leader Award. Service Leader Jacqui Moran and Support Worker Leahanne Sharkey were shortlisted for the Putting People First Award and Dementia Carer Award respectively.

On his award, Neil says: “I was both surprised and proud to be shortlisted at the Great North West Care Awards, but to win such a prestigious award amongst the very best our sector has to offer is a real standout moment in my career.”

“Throughout my career I’ve had the honour of working for organisations that have been tireless in their work to make a difference in the lives of the people they support. I joined Community Integrated Care at an exciting time of organisational development as we look to achieve our ambitious aims, which remain underpinned by our dedication to providing great care and support to more people.”