Career change: nurse Sam Antwi-Marful discusses his long NHS career, and explains why he has launched a supported living enterprise

Purpose This study aims to provide a description of a small but growing supported living service in Reading, UK. Provided by a company called Chiron Care, which will celebrate its fifth anniversary later this year, it is owned by Sam Antwi-Marful. Sam is a mental health nurse who launched the enterprise after a long and successful career as a mental health practitioner and manager in the NHS and independent sector. Design/methodology/approach The aim is to shed light on the development of Sam’s career – which had some very unusual precursors – and how he used his varied experiences and philosophical insights when launching Chiron Care and in ensuring its financial viability. The paper was written by an experienced healthcare journalist and editor (who also has a background in mental health nursing). He visited some of the homes provided by Chiron Care and conducted an in-depth interview with Sam. While his approach is mainly journalistic in style, the paper attempts to put Sam’s 38-year career and his aspirations in a wider historical context. Findings One of many supported living enterprises in the UK, Chiron Care has some unique characteristics that will hopefully of wider interest to other providers and practitioners, particularly those with mental health nursing backgrounds. Originality/value Sam began his career in the 1980s in a large psychiatric institution, which closed in 1997, and is now flourishing as a role model, leader and businessman at the forefront of delivering an alternative and, arguably, unusual model of care in the community.