44th Annual General Practice and Primary Care Update: Shaping the Future of Healthcare Through Prevention, Evidence Based Practice and Technology

Tim Spector, MD, is Professor of Epidemiology at King’s College London and co-founder of ZOE, the science and nutrition company. He is the bestselling author of The Diet Myth, Spoon-Fed and Food for Life. With a focus on cutting-edge science, and honoured with an OBE for his impactful work in fighting Covid-19, Tim stands at the forefront of his field. The original pioneer of microbiome research, he is among the top 100 most-cited scientists in the world.

Alison Pottle is Consultant Nurse in Cardiology at Harefield Hospital, one of the Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals, which are part of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Alison has been in post since 2000 and the post was one of the first in cardiology in the UK. Her role within cardiology is varied and she is responsible for running a variety or nurse-led services, including post percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) follow-up clinics, pre-admission clinics, the Rapid Access Chest Pain service, nurse-led discharge, the structural heart disease service, and the lipoprotein apheresis unit. The apheresis unit has been operation since 2000 and is now the largest in the country.

Alison has an MSc in Cardiology, is a non-medical prescriber, a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology and a Trustee for HEART UK, the cholesterol charity. She is an ALS Instructor and was responsible for setting up and running the ALS course at Harefield. She continues to maintain her ALS qualification and teaches on the courses at Harefield. Her role is largely clinical, but she also manages a team of specialist nurses and is involved in various research activities.

Dr Dev Shah is a UK-qualified Consultant Dermatologist and Skin Surgeon with more than 20 years’ experience in general dermatology and advanced skin surgery, specialising in  Mohs Micrographic Surgery. He leads skin surgery services at Amersham NHS Trust and has previously developed Mohs surgery services at Hillingdon NHS and OSD Healthcare - Hemel Hempstead.

In private practice, he consults at multiple locations in London and Hertfordshire,  he also chairs an NHS and Private skin cancer multi-disciplinary meeting.

He enjoys teaching and has been a regular member of the BSDS teaching faculty nationally leading lectures and practical sessions for skin cancer surgery.

After 23 years as a GP Partner in Northamptonshire, Gareth now combines clinical work with managerial roles across various healthcare settings. Recognised as one of the UK’s leading authorities on vasectomy, he has performed nearly 3,000 procedures across the Midlands.

Since 2007, he served as Audit Lead for the Association of Surgeons in Primary Care (ASPC), publishing several papers — with more in progress — that showcase the quality and value of community-based surgery.

The ASPC represents portfolio GPs and other clinicians delivering surgical procedures under local anaesthetic in community settings. Their focus on the three most common community interventions: vasectomy, carpal tunnel decompression, and a wide range of skin surgeries, from benign excisions to complex skin cancer reconstructions. Their mission is to champion the clinical, economic, and patient-centred advantages of shifting surgery into the community.

In 2023, Gareth was honoured to be elected President of the ASPC.

Since 2007, Dr Soon Lim has been teaching, providing and acting as an expert witness in minor surgery in a community setting. He was director of minor surgery for seven RCGP faculties, president of the Association of Surgeons in Primary Care and provided services in London and surrounding home counties before hanging up his scalpel last year. He is still invited to teach in small groups in small towns across the country.

Dr Elaine Lockhart studied medicine at University College Dublin and has worked in Ireland, France and the UK.
She is past Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Child and Adolescent faculty and also held this role with the RCPsych in Scotland.
She has lived in Scotland for the past 30 years and is currently a consultant psychiatrist with the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Learning Disability CAMHS team and at The Edinburgh Practice. Her areas of focus are values and evidence-based specialist CAMHS across the UK and the recruitment and retention of psychiatrists to work with infants, children and young people.

Dr Rachael Morris-Jones FRCP, PhD, PCME is a Consultant Dermatologist. She works as a consultant dermatologist and has a national reputation as an expert in clinical dermatology and is an international name in cutaneous infection.

As a medical educator she strives to ensure all her training sessions are practical and useful for the learners, concentrating on how to diagnose and manage patients of ages with a range of cutaneous infections.

She has written numerous dermatology textbooks (including ABC of Dermatology, 100 Cases in Dermatology and has over 100 publications in the medical literature. She published ‘Dermatologist Tested’ a book busting common myths about the skin. She has recorded some Podcast alongside Dr Emma Craythorne called The Skinterview – common questions from the Skin Clinic.

Dr Khurram Sadiq is a London-based Consultant Neurodevelopmental Psychiatrist, ADHD Clinical Lead at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, and Clinical Care Lead for the South East London Integrated Care System. An international keynote speaker and author of Explaining AuDHD, he has delivered six TEDx talks and addressed audiences at the UN in Vienna, UNESCO in Paris, and leading global companies including Warner Bros. and Booking.com. His expertise spans autism, ADHD, and the intersection of mental health with the digital age, alongside a passion for compassionate leadership in healthcare.

Rupal Shah is a GP trainer in Battersea and an Associate Dean working in the London Professional Development Team.

She is co-author of, 'Fighting for the Soul of General Practice- the algorithm will see you now' , with its linked podcast series; and has written a series of peer reviewed medical education articles introducing the 'hermeneutic window', which forms the basis of her PhD thesis. She is a member of the RCGP Ethics Committee, RCGP overdiagnosis group and part of the core team of the 'Human Values in Healthcare Forum'.

Dr Minha is a distinguished Clinician Scientist with a unique blend of lived experience and extensive medical training across Rheumatology, Pain, Occupational & Disability Medicine, Clinical Nutrition and International Development. Shaped by a personal journey that medicine couldn’t fully explain, from undiagnosed connective tissue disorder, recurrent joint dislocations to a serious London Underground mishap at 18 that changed the course of her life.

Turning pain into purpose, Dr Minha initially trained in Osteopathy and Naturopathy, graduating with First-Class Honours, before re-enrolling in Medicine. Navigating chronic fatigue and autoimmune conditions (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis), she trained in Cambridge, Manchester and London, leading multidisciplinary teams, advising NHS and corporate organisations, mentoring globally and contributing to national and international health policy.

Her professional excellence includes the Mobbs Corporate Fellowship (Faculty of Occupational Medicine), Golden Jubilee Fellowship (Society of Occupational Medicine) and the MNI Award (ESPEN). In 2025, she was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP, London).

At 40, a second life-changing accident resulted in an ischaemic brain injury, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), autoimmunity and multiple fractures. Lyme disease and long covid followed. Sitting alone in a hospital corridor, award-winning yet unseen, her neurodiverse mind searched for answers. That moment sparked the creation of Curaidh Clinic, a flagship HIS-registered Centre in Dundee, Scotland for pain, fatigue, unexplained symptoms, complex chronic disease and work health.

Dr Minha has 100+ publications and presentations, most recently presenting at the British Pain Society, British Society for Rheumatology and the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (2024).

At Curaidh’s core is the LLIFERR® Model of Care (Lifestyle, Longevity, Integrative, Functional, Ecologic, Restorative, Regenerative Medicine), a pioneering approach focused on equipping patients and families with practical, evidence-based tools to uncover root causes, rebuild lives and restore livelihoods

Mr Khaled Sarraf was appointed as a Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (based both at St Mary’s Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital). He is a Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at Imperial College London. He is also the Lead of the Children and Adolescent Bone and Joint Unit at The Cromwell Hospital.

His specialist interest lies in all aspects of trauma, hip and knee conditions and sports injuries, of all ages. He is able to perform a wide variety of procedures, including trauma surgery, adult hip and knee reconstructive and joint replacement surgery as well as minimally invasive and arthroscopic surgery and joint preservation surgery including cartilage surgery, ligament reconstruction and meniscal surgery. He has been involved in the management of professional athletes at all levels, from Premiership to the Academy level given his added paediatric expertise. He has worked with multiple sports clubs including Premiership Football and Rugby, Jockeys, Olympic Sports and Athletics, Judo and others.

His academic research interest remains at the forefront of his work with over 85 peer reviewed publications in the orthopaedic literature, multiple book chapters and an author of 2 orthopaedic textbooks. He has presented his research both nationally and internationally. He has 2 international patents to his name, and has designed multiple surgical instrumentation. He has a significant role in the venture capital space with healthtech and medtech early-stage companies, where he acts as an advisor and sits on the board.

He is the current President of the RSM Orthopaedic Section and past Chair of the Scientific program of SICOT Orthopaedic World Congress.

Professor Dennis Ougrin is a distinguished expert in child and adolescent psychiatry, renowned for his contributions to mental health care, particularly in the areas of self-harm prevention and intensive community treatment for young people.

Professor Ougrin holds the position of Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Global Mental Health at Queen Mary University of London, where he leads the Youth Resilience Unit. He also serves as a visiting professor at King’s College London and is an honorary consultant psychiatrist at East London NHS Foundation Trust.

After graduating from medical school in Ukraine in 1998, Professor Ougrin relocated to the UK. He completed his higher training in child and adolescent psychiatry at Guy’s and Maudsley hospitals. He obtained a PhD from King’s College London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy from the University of Oxford.

Professor Ougrin is the developer of Therapeutic Assessment, an innovative model designed to engage young individuals who self-harm. He also pioneered the Supported Discharge Service, an intensive community care model for adolescents with severe psychiatric conditions. This model was evaluated in the first randomised controlled trial of its kind in the UK, influencing the development of similar services both nationally and internationally. His research interests encompass:

• Self-harm and suicide in young people
• Intensive community care services for adolescents with severe psychiatric disorders
• The pathophysiology of self-harm

Professor Ougrin has led major studies funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Medical Research Council (MRC), and major international charities.

Committed to global mental health, Professor Ougrin leads initiatives aimed at developing community mental health services in Ukraine and other low- and middle-income countries. He is also involved in programs facilitating information exchange between the UK and Ukraine.

Dr Shakur is a GP Partner, trainer approved by the GMC and PLAB Examiner, and surgery research lead. Dr Shakur has a keen interest in medical education and local in-house guideline creation. Dr Shakur is also cofounder The MEDtalkx Podcast. 

This speaker has been organised by, and funded, by Pfizer

Dr. Sanjeev Rana is a full time General Practitioner, GP trainer, Clinical Commissioner, Medical Director and a Member of the Service Development Committee for the PCRS-UK.

He graduated from the Imperial School of Medicine and Technology in 1995 and qualified as a General Practitioner in 1998. His interests include Respiratory, dermatology and Urgent care.

He has a keen interest in population-based healthcare, applying international healthcare models to local service delivery, applying risk stratification tools to chronic disease management to optimise healthcare utilisation, developing the NHS workforce and understanding what value means to the NHS.

This speaker has been organised by, and funded, by Pfizer

Jeff is a very experienced Non Medical prescriber who has been the main creator of the primary care drug and alcohol in Islington. This was a service which treated patients in the community in General Practice who had drug and alcohol issues. It was able to run from 2004 to 2018 in Islington and was widely acknowledged as a service which could have a wider application than the borough of Islington. Its design and ethos was promoted by the National Treatment Agency and later the Healthcare Commission. It had NMP clinics central to its delivery and this treated over 500 patients a year.  

Since 2022 Jeff has been working for the Royal Free Hospital Trust and has developed the drug and alcohol service for inpatients to move from hospital into the community to receive treatment.

Jeff has also designed and established the alcohol outpatient service in the trust which is now in three large teaching hospitals. This outpatient service is nurse-led and employs NMPs. It has enabled patients who were treatment resistant to receive treatment in a different setting.

The development of the service and its positive impact for patients will be discussed in Jeff's session.