Who's Who at Care Forum Wales

Care Forum Wales is a non-profit making organisation. It was set up in 1993 to give health and social care providers a collective voice in the debate about how to provide the best outcomes for those who need social care. All our funding is raised through membership fees or sponsorship and we have more than 450 members across Wales.

Find out more about us and the work we do for our members

Our Council

The Council has up to 26 elected members from across Wales' 22 local authorities – all are volunteers – and four elected officers. We also have three regional councils. These were set up in 2012 to improve representation at regional level across Wales. Each council is chaired by one of Care Forum Wales' council members.

Mario Kreft (chair)
Malcolm Perrett (vice chair)
Sanjiv Joshi (Treasurer)
Tom Watson, chair South West and Mid Wales
Brian West, chair South East Wales
Kim Ombler, chair North Wales

You can get in touch with any of our Council members by emailing your initial enquiry to our administrator, Janet Roberts.

Mario Kreft

CFW chair: Mario Kreft

Our chair, Mario Kreft, (pictured above) is responsible for social care policy and Care Forum Wales' working relationship with the Welsh Government and other public, voluntary and private agencies. As well as running his own, award-winning Pendine Park care organisation, Mario devotes his time to the promotion of issues relating to the social care workforce and is chair of the Wales Care Awards. He sits on the ministerial board overseeing the new Social Services (Wales) Bill - Sustainable Social Services for Wales - and is the care sector representative on the advisory National Partnership Forum For Older People. In 2010 Mario was awarded an MBE for his contribution to social care in Wales and the Welsh Government recently honoured him with a Recognising Achievement Award for his innovative work in health and social care. In 2011 he was named Caring Times UK Care Personality of the Year, the first Welshman to receive the award. Mario has worked in the social care sector for 25 years. He was vice chair of the National Care Homes Association until 1993 when he left to co-found Care Forum Wales. Previously a member of the Care Council for Wales and the Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work (CCETSW), Mario is currently the Welsh representative on the board of Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).

Malcolm Perrett

CFW vice chair: Malcolm Perrett

Malcolm Perrett (pictured above) became managing director of Pinesheild Health and Social Care (formerly Carewatch Cardiff and Newport) in 2008 following a 20-year career as a senior manager in sales and marketing. Malcolm has shown his commitment to improving standards in the health and well-being sector through his roles as a board member of the Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan Regional Partnership Board, and he also represents Care Forum Wales at various meetings and Stakeholder Groups with Welsh Government, Social Care Wales and Care Inspectorate Wales. Malcolm took on the role of Care Forum Wales's Vice Chair in September 2013.

CFW treasurer and secretary: Sanjiv Joshi

Previous company secretary: Steve Bradshaw

Mike Kemp

CFW council member: Mike Kemp

Mike Kemp (pictured above), a director of College Fields Nursing Home, was Care Forum Wales’s vice chair until stepping down in September 2013. He works to represent Welsh care providers across a wide range of organisations - he's currently part of the NHS group reviewing Funded Nursing Care. He is represents providers' interests to the Welsh Government (on its Regulation and Inspection White Paper) and the CSSIW modernisation panel. He is very concerned that pressure on care managers is becoming too onerous and that they need support rather than increasing criticism. He is keen to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy and conflicting requirements in regulation and inspection.

Regional Councils

South East Wales chair: Brian West

Brian West

Brian (pictured) is a co-founder of Hebron Hall Christian Centre, a registered charity which is currently involved in assisting Bethel House Residential Care Home for Christian Devotional Activities. Within Care Forum Wales Brian has special responsibility for 'social care workforce strategy' which continues to strengthen the on-going partnership between Care Forum Wales and the Care Council for Wales. Brian is an active member of the South East Wales Social Care in Partnership and the Social Care Workforce Development Partnership for both the Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend County Borough Councils. He also serves as chairman for the Vale of Glamorgan Care Home Association and a management trustee of the Dinas Powys Voluntary Concern serving as chairman for the Human Resources, Policies and Finance Operations Working Group.

South East Wales council members

Brian West (Chair regional council); Alex Kelleher; Anne Thomas; Brian Hadley; Grant Santos; Keri Llewellyn; Malcom Perrett; Mike John; Mike Kemp; Philip Batchelor; Priscilla Llewelyn (mind the spelling!); Rachel Kemp; Ramesh Patel; Sanjiv Joshi.

South West and Mid Wales chair: Tom Watson

Tom trained as a registered mental health nurse (RMN) and worked as a staff nurse, charge nurse, community psychiatric nurse and nurse manager with the Oxfordshire Mental Healthcare NHS Trust until 2000. Since 2000 he has provided dementia care for older people as a registered manager, then operations manager, in the independent sector. He works with other registered managers to ensure they have the on-going professional development, knowledge and skills to enhance the lives of older people living in their care homes. Tom is also a member of the Pembrokeshire Care Homes Association, the Swansea Care Homes Alliance Group and Neath Port Talbot Care Homes Group.

South West and Mid Wales council members:

Tom Watson (Chair regional council); Adele Williams; Anthony Lovell; Anthony Ramsey Williams; Eileen Coyle-Jones; Helen Maiello; Margaret Jenkins; Mark Lewis; Michelle Martin (co-opted by Council as lead on Younger Adult residential care); Mike Davies; Nick Oulton; Robert Davis; Sharon Williams; Thasan Yoganathan; Tudur Williams.

North Wales chair: Kim Ombler

Kim Ombler

Kim Ombler (pictured) helped her parents set up the family business in 1989, building a purpose-built nursing home that now has 52 beds. After a short period in 1991 working for Newham Council in London as a social worker, Kim returned to the family business, taking over as manager following the death of her mother. Kim is now one of the three directors of Quality Care Wales Ltd. The home has been a member of Care Forum Wales since the late 1990s and Kim a council member since 2007. She leads the Nurse Forum in North Wales and was elected chair for North Wales regional council in 2012.

North Wales council members

Kim Ombler (Chair regional council); Ceri Roberts; Clive Nadin; Glyn Williams; Hazel Jones-Beach; Jacqui Jones; Jennifer Roberts; Kevin Hughes; Mario Kreft; Paul Thompson; Peter Regan; Steve Ford; Steve Elliott (co-opted by Council as lead on Looked After Children).

Advisers and special interest groups

Care Forum Wales employs two full-time policy advisers and also retains several part-time professional advisers. Mary Wimbury (pictured below left) is a senior policy adviser based in north Wales and Melanie Minty (below right) is our South Wales-based policy adviser.

Mary Wimbury Melanie Minty

Contact Mary Wimbury, senior policy adviser, North Wales

Contact Melanie Minty, policy adviser, South West and South East Wales

Our part-time professional advisers are on hand to help with member queries. They are:

Alison Castrey, legal representative
Anthony Arcari, health and safety
Paula Martyn, nursing
Jan Wood, workforce development

Contact them via the Care Forum Wales office. Email janet@careforumwales.co.uk

CFW special interest group leaders

Care Forum Wales also works with several key people who co-ordinate our special interest groups to help us spread best practice. They are pictured below (clockwise from top left).

Steve Ford Keri Llewellyn Alexandra Kelleher