A MANAGER who successfully battled to turn around the fortunes of a struggling Pembrokeshire nursing home has been shortlisted for a major award.

Two years after taking over CareInn Ltd’s Rickeston Mill home in Haverfordwest Sue Lanceley found herself facing the problem of a high level of bed vacancies but made it her sole mission to save the home.

Her dedicated approach has landed 55-year-old Sue a place in the final of major national competition, the 2017 Wales Care Awards.

This is the 15th anniversary of the awards and the glittering presentation ceremony will be held at City Hall in Cardiff on Friday, November 17, hosted by tenor and radio presenter Wynne Evans, better known as Gio Compario from the Go Compare TV ads.

Sue, who lives in Haverfordwest, is shortlisted in the Leadership in Residential Care Services category of the awards.

Originally from Warrington in Cheshire, Sue qualified as a nurse in 1982 and from 2008 spent three years as deputy manager of St Theresa’s nursing home in Fishguard before she was appointed manager of Rickeston Mill in 2011.

Sue said: “I was surprised to be nominated for the award because I’m not the sort of person who likes the limelight but if this helps towards the reputation of the home I’m happy.

“I’m looking forward to attending the presentation evening in Cardiff when I’ll be accompanied by my partner Mandy who is also my clinical lead at Rickeston Mill.

“I look back on 2013 as a very challenging period. We were then just a general nursing home but there were nine empty beds. As a company we had to think about what we were going to do and to change tack.”