Council Members
Pat Conteh
Head of Clinical Services at Prestige Nursing and Care
Bio
I qualified as a Registered Adult Nurse in 2005 and since have worked in various NHS, Community and private nursing roles. During the last 10 years I have had experience as a registered manager for a national high tech nursing service as well as other clinical leadership and governance roles within health and social care. My core driver is to always to achieve clinical excellence through ensuring best practice and high standards of person-centred care to ensure clients have positive outcomes and outstanding quality care and support.
Debbie Clark
RNLD Registered Manager at Egalité Care
Bio
I am a Learning Disability Nurse with over 40 years of experience in Health and Social Care. Currently, I run my own organisation, providing support to younger adults in their own homes including Supported Living environments. With a deep commitment to advocacy, my primary goal is to raise the profile of Social Care Nursing, emphasising the crucial role of Learning Disability Nurses. Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for individuals with learning disabilities, ensuring they receive compassionate and personalised care tailored to their unique needs.
Marianne Davis
Locality Manager at Skills for Care
Bio
Marianne Davis is the Locality Manager covering the Surrey area. She started her working career as a Teacher and taught for a number of years. She came into social care in 1989 as a care worker and progressed into learning and development roles and management roles. Marianne was the RM for a large domiciliary care service and later an Area Manager for a SE charity.
In her role across Surrey, she works with a range of strategic partners including CCG colleagues, ICS colleagues, local authority commissioners, Quality assurance leads, as well as many employers across Surrey.
Sharon Lee
Senior Primary Care Workforce Programme Lead - NHS Kent and Medway ICB
Bio
I started my nursing career 44 years ago and still work clinically to this day. 30 years in the Primary Care arena working with some amazing colleagues. I am a Queen’s Nurse and proud to say I was awarded Freedom of the City of London a few years ago, as well as the Cavell Nurse Award.
In my early career I spent a year working within a Nursing home and developed a passion then for supporting my amazing social care colleagues who provide holistic care for our most vulnerable in society.
Helen Evans
Head of Education St. Wilfrid’s Hospice Chichester
Bio
Helen worked in acute oncology in London for the first twenty years of her career in various roles, including research (with several publications), oncology service manager and senior lecturer at the University of Brighton.
For the past eighteen years, Helen has enjoyed working in the charity sector in her local hospice initially, in a clinical role as a clinical nurse specialist in palliative care and then back in education, leading a team delivering palliative and end-of-life care education in Sussex and playing a pivotal role in this.
Social care is enormously critical to Helen and for patients at the end of life in this geographical region – Helen has strong links to social care in West Sussex. More recent publications include Loss, grief and Bereavement in Schools and Colleges.
Marisa Spice
Learning and Development Manager - Nellsar Care Homes
Bio
Qualifying as a registered nurse in 1998, Marisa has experience in the NHS and working abroad as a nurse and care home manager in Mallorca, before returning to live in the UK in 2013.
Having worked for Nellsar as a nurse, Home Manager, RN Development Manager and Operations Manager, Marisa’s passion for supporting people to develop and become confident and competent in their roles has always been the motivation to work with others. In particular, this is what drives her ambition to be part of the various strategies to raise the profile of social care, particularly for social care nursing (nurses, Nursing Associates, and students).
Marisa’s additional role as Operations and Compliance Manager with two small Homes (Totem and Tamarind Care) supporting adults with complex Learning Disabilities, gives her a more varied scope of knowledge and networking opportunities.
In 2021, Marisa was recognised for her work in social care, becoming a Queen’s Nurse and continues to promote the value and importance of social care.
Rian Gleave
Lead Nurse: Independent Health and Social Care- South East - RCN
Bio
Rian is the RCN’s lead nurse for Independent Health and Social Care for the South East region. His role includes celebrating and promoting the complex and diverse independent health and social care sectors and understanding the challenges and innovations to use the RCN’s voice to influence positive change.
Prior to his role at the RCN, he spent two years within the adult social care delivery group at the Department of Health and Social Care, having been seconded from the CQC where he spent a decade leading inspection teams.
Committed to lifelong learning, he has studied for a master’s degree in healthcare ethics and law, a postgraduate diploma in advanced practice (infection prevention and control) and an honours degree in health studies (aggression management).
He has a passion for improvement and removing barriers for nursing staff to deliver excellent care and support.
Claire Pegg
Regional Research Delivery Networks Health & Care Director for NMAHPs (Kent, Surrey and Sussex)- NIHR
Bio
Claire Pegg is an ITU nurse by background who discovered her love for research in 2011 whilst based in that setting. Since then, she has worked in the acute and community sectors delivering research of varying specialities.
In April 2023, Claire was appointed as the Regional Chief Research Nurse lead at the NIHR in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, where she spent 18 months working across all sectors to drive forward research that is led, delivered and supported by Nurses, Midwives and AHPs.
In August 2024, Claire was appointed as the NMAHP Health and Care Director for the newly formed Regional Research Delivery Network in the South East (Kent, Surrey and Sussex).
Joanna Grant
Care Quality Consultant - The Superior Healthcare Group
Bio
Joanna has a wide-ranging background in both the NHS and the Independent sector. She has worked in schools, community nursing and Continuing Care. She was a Chief Nurse in a large corporation providing homecare across the UK.
She now works as a consultant advisor to those working with children, young people and adults in the places they live and work, including hospices, residential homes/schools/colleges, and family houses.
Joanna is passionate about supporting people to achieve their chosen goals whilst remaining in their preferred environment; she supports nurse-led care, especially for those with complex needs and is an advocate for those people who need care at home and for the nurses and carers that provide this.