Council Members
Midlands
- NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB
- NHS Black Country ICB
- NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB
- NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB
- NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB
- NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB
- NHS Lincolnshire ICB
- NHS Northamptonshire ICB
- NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
- NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
- NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB
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Council Members
Jayanthi Antony
Registered Manager - Julie Richardson Nursing Home
Jayanthi Antony is a distinguished healthcare professional with over 25 years of exemplary experience as a Registered Nurse in the NHS and social care sectors. For the past 12 years, she has served as the Registered Manager of the Julie Richardson Nursing Home in Oxfordshire, achieving an "Outstanding" rating in four of the five domains assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), reflecting her unwavering dedication to person-centred, high-quality care.
Jayanthi holds a Master’s degree in Dementia Studies from the University of Stirling and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in the same field, further enhancing her expertise. She has been recognized with the "Outstanding Dementia Care" award within her organization and was a finalist for the prestigious Dementia Care Manager of the Year Award at the 25th National Care Awards in 2023 for her innovative contributions.
A committed advocate for professional development, Jayanthi has supported staff in progressing into roles such as Registered Nurses and Nursing Associates. She also mentors nursing students during their placements, fostering future generations of healthcare professionals.
Jayanthi’s charitable initiatives have raised funds and awareness for vulnerable populations. Her dedication was nationally recognized when she was named the sole female runner-up for the T. Haridas Social Worker Award by the UK Indian Malayali Association. As Nursing Home Help Team Lead for Kerala Nurses UK, she continues to champion excellence in nursing and strengthen the professional community.
Andrea Westlake MSc RGN RHV FiHV
Director of Nursing NHS Birmingham and Solihull
Andrea is a registered Health Visitor and Midwife currently the NHS Birmingham and Solihull Director of Nursing leading on social care nursing, quality and development, and NHS continuing health care since September 2023. This is a new and exciting role which works in partnership with local government, NHS, NGOs and national bodies such as Skills for Care. This role will optimise the value and impact of the social care workforce to improve health and social care outcomes.
Prior to this Andrea held national and regional roles in NHS England, as Deputy Director Community Workforce in the Primary Care and Community directorate leading on the NHS England long term workforce plan (Community) and national community policy (workforce) including virtual wards, advanced practice and Skills for Health capability frameworks. During the pandemic Andrea was seconded to the national Chief Nursing Officer team (CNO Team) as Assistant Director of Nursing and Quality leading on community nursing safer staffing; continuing care workforce recovery and the national community nursing portfolio.
Andrea has extensive and diverse experience in the NHS, Department of Health and local government. She has a proven record of system partnerships, commissioning, and providing excellence in health and social care. Andrea has been seconded to the Department of Health on two occasions to lead on Widening Participation in Learning and latterly, the Call To Action for Health Visiting. She has achieved national recognition and was awarded a Fellowship of the Institute of Health Visiting for services to public health nursing, early years, developing the workforce and service improvement. In addition, Andrea is an accredited Service Improvement Associate: Primary Care Improvement Faculty.
Andrea has had various roles including regional lead for maternity transformation; regional lead SEND reviews working jointly with the Department of Education. Andrea is passionate about early years public health and she has presented Parliamentary evidence for better start in life as well as leading a successful regional programme to deliver the Family Nurse Partnership programme which has evidenced positive outcomes for children and young people.
Andrea is a proud and privileged to continue to have a fulfilling and rewarding 40 year career in health care and public health. She remains fully committed to making a difference for people, improving care and supporting the workforce to be the very best they can be.
Louise Luckman
Senior Clinical Quality Assurance Lead NHS Birmingham & Solihull ICB
Louise brings over 35 years of senior-level experience within the NHS and Adult Social Care as a Registered Nurse. Her diverse background includes roles in care homes, hospitals, community services, and as a Specialist Nurse. She has a career as Head of Service, Local Authority Commissioning Manager for Quality and Workforce in Adult Social Care in Solihull, and currently, as the Senior Clinical Quality Assurance Manager for Nursing Homes at Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care (BSOL).
This experience has enabled Louise to have a proven history of strategic planning with NHS and partner organisations, both locally and nationally working with the independent sector and many types of health, social care providers.
Her knowledge of governance, assurance processes, and quality in clinical practice within the NHS and social care services is invaluable. In her current role at BSOL, Louise is responsible for the quality assurance of nursing care and leads the development and implementation of systems and processes within social care nursing.
Since joining the Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board, Louise has established two networks: the Quality Leads for Social Care Network for the West Midlands region and the BSOL Nurses and Clinical Leads network for nurses working in social care. These initiatives ensure that BSOL benefits from relevant initiatives and that continuity across the region.
Vicky Sandy-Davis
FHEA, MSc Forensic Mental Health Care, PGCHEPP, RN(LD)
Vicky qualified as a Learning Disabilities Nurse in 1996. She has worked across a wide range of services in both the NHS and the independent health and social care sectors. She is a qualified Positive Behaviour Support coach and a self-harm and suicide assessment trainer.
Vicky has recently taken up post with the Royal College of Nursing as Lead Nurse for the independent health and social care sector for the West Midlands region, having previously worked at Coventry University for twelve and a half years, both as Assistant Professor and Course Director for Learning Disability Nursing. For nine years prior to this she worked as a Forensic Community Charge Nurse, and Mental Impairment Community Nurse.
Vicky has a special interest in the support of people with learning disabilities and autism and the criminal justice system.
Lynne Bowers
Social Care Nursing Associate - ADASS
Lynne Bowers is a dedicated Social Care Nursing Associate for the West Midlands Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS). With a robust background as a former Matron and Deputy Director of Nursing, Lynne has significantly contributed to the development and implementation of the social care nursing workforce strategy for West Midlands ADASS over the past few years.
Lynne collaborates closely with the Chief Nursing Office and the Social Care Nurse Advisory Councils in the Midlands and beyond. Her efforts have been instrumental in organising and delivering a series of webinars in partnership with the Royal College of Nursing Midlands, aimed at supporting social care nurses.
In her current role, Lynne works with Care Providers and Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) to facilitate nursing associate and social care nurse apprenticeships across the West Midlands. She is also actively involved in the development of the Care Academy model, focusing on creating comprehensive education and training programs for social care nurses.
There are examples of these initiatives that have led to notable improvements in the sector, including a reduction in emergency hospital conveyances and an increase in the number of people dying in their place of choice. She collaborates at national level and with Skills for Care and their Registered Managers networks to advance social care nursing practice, career pathways, and entry routes into the profession.
Sandra Prew
RDN National Settings Lead for Residential Settings and National ENRICH Coordinatior (ENabling Research In Care Homes).
My Name is Sandra Prew, I am the RDN National Settings Lead for Residential Settings and National ENRICH Coordinatior (ENabling Research In Care Homes).
I have been supporting research in wider care settings for the last 9 years firstly in Hospice and then in Care homes. I started working with Care Homes 9 yrs ago as West Midlands ENRICH Lead and became the National ENRICH Coordinator during Covid. I support Care home research Nationally and provide support to those working within care homes to become research aware and engaged and also working with researchers with care homes to become research active.
Locally I am an Assistant Research Delivery Manager supporting the development of research in social care settings, including local authorities, Schools, Prisons, and other settings. I have supported the development of policies and procedures to enable organizations to become research-aware, engaged, and active. I am keen to support other settings using the wealth of experience I have from working across these settings and supporting research from idea to the dissemination of research findings
Social care deserves to have its achievements celebrated and those who work in social care should have the opportunity to grow and learn new things to support them both personally and professionally. I believe Research can help us to achieve that goal.
Shirley Way
Midlands Head of Area for Skills for Care
Shirley Way is the Midlands Head of Area for Skills for Care.
Skills for Care is the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England. We work with employers, Government, and partners to ensure social care has the right people, skills and support require
Shirley’s team work directly with adult social care providers, as well as a wide range of other partners within the local health and care systems
Prior to her current role Shirley has many years of experience working within the sector, including as a manager for children’s residential services and developing and managing a care partnership for the adult social care sector
Social care nurses are an integral part of the sector workforce with almost 40k within England and approx. 750 qualified Nursing Associates (as of 2024). Many social care nurses are also in a management role. We need to ensure that these care professionals remain updated and develop both their clinical, leadership and management skills/knowledge, also that they are offered support and guidance to continue this vital role in the social care sector
Diane Mayhew
Co Founder and Campaign Manager Rights for Residents
I am the co founder and Campaign Manager at Rights for Residents.
Four years ago, I never imagined I would become a passionate campaigner, but Covid turned my world upside down. My Mother in Law Jean, was living in a care home with advanced dementia and had always relied on my partner and I for practical and emotional support. When the pandemic struck, she was isolated and forcibly separated from us. We witnessed her rapid decline via windows and iPads and felt powerless to comfort or reassure her.
People up and down the country joined us and became active campaigners, raising the voices of those that weren’t being heard. Motivated by sheer desperation, we began fighting for Gloria’s Law – the right to maintain contact with loved ones in health and care settings.
Our Rights for Residents campaign has been hugely successful in forcing changes to Government policy and ensuring thousands of people living in care, of all ages, were reunited with their loved ones.
Although Social Care is something that affects each and every one of us at some point in our lives, it is only when we are personally affected that we realise how important it is. I feel passionately about working in partnership with others to highlight the importance of Social Care and how we can work together to improve the experience for everyone.
Katie Thorn
Project Manager for the Digital Care Hub
Katie Thorn is a pivotal figure in digital transformation within the adult social care sector. She serves as the Project Manager for the Digital Care Hub, formerly known as Digital Social Care. For social care providers, by social care providers, the Digital Care Hub provides free guidance and support to care organisations on technology, data protection and cyber security. This initiative is supported by the Care Provider Alliance, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care.
Katie has played a significant role in advocating for and implementing digital solutions in social care. She has been involved in co-hosting the first series of roundtables on the responsible use Generative AI in social care with the Institute of Ethics in AI at Oxford University and the subsequent publication of the Oxford Statement. Her work focuses on ensuring that digital innovations in social care are used ethically and effectively.