Tim, a graduate of St Andrews University, trained in nephrology and intensive care in Oxford before joining Doctors.net.uk in 2000. Tim has a strong interest in medical education and was an honorary senior lecturer at Warwick Medical School until 2007. Tim has authored many articles in the medical press and acts as spokesperson for the online network of doctors.

Doctors.net.uk has a membership comprising the vast majority of UK doctors. Each week over 50,000 use the service making it the online professional resource most frequently used by them. The network provides extensive clinical content including online education, conference highlights, user-generated content and discussion fora. This array of content supports doctors in making the best decisions for the care of their patients. In surveys, 97% of members of the network say that Doctors.net.uk is their most trusted source of information. During 2009, Doctors.net.uk became a key channel through which medical professional accessed information about Swine Flu, with the CMO also using it to broadcast podcast messages to those on the front line.


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Dr Clare Gerada has became the first female Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 50 years. She has a long involvement with the RCGP; she was previously Vice Chair of College Council and is immediate past Chair of the Ethics Committee. She currently Chairs the First5 Committee, and established the RCGP's groundbreaking Substance Misuse Unit. Her first move as Chair has been to establish a Centre for Commissioning, in partnership with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, to support general practitioners across the country.

Clare has been a GP since 1992, when she became a partner for the Hurley Clinic in South London. The practice started life in 1969 – and remains on its current site – on the ground floor of a 19-storey housing estate in Lambeth. She has held a number of local and national leadership positions, including Director of Primary Care for the National Clinical Governance Team and Senior Medical Advisor to the Department of Health.

She is Medical Director of the PHP Programme and has published a number of academic papers, articles, books and chapters. Prior to general practice, she worked in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital in South London, specialising in substance misuse. She was awarded an MBE in the Millennium Birthday Honours for services to medicine and substance misuse.



Presentation: The Health and Social Care Bill

What will be the impact of the bill for General Practitioners and clinicians alike and what will be the implications for patient care?

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Paul is a GP by training, training first at Cambridge, then at Guys Hospital, London and became a GP partner in 1991.

In the mid 1990s he became interested in management and led the Fund Holding Consortium for Braintree, a town with a population of 55,000. His work focused on waiting lists, National patient access and the Modernisation Agency.

In 2002 he set up and became Chief Executive of the Braintree Care Trust for adult social care, taking on neighbouring Chelmsford PCT who were then experiencing financial difficulties.

In 2006 he became Chief Executive of North East Essex and in 2009 he took on the role of Chief Executive of Great Yarmouth PCT, continuing in his joint GP and leadership role.

In January 2010 he became Chief Executive of NHS Cambridgeshire and has also taken on the role of Chief Executive of NHS Peterborough in July 2010.

Following the publication of the White Paper he was appointed the East of England SHA Director responsible for implementation of GP Commissioning, and is involved in some of the National development work on GP consortia including authorisation and the learning network

Paul is a clinician with extensive leadership experience at national, regional and local levels. His personal areas of interest are patient safety, medical leadership and how to best develop healthy organisations.


Presentation: Commissioning Transition and Implementation

How will the transference of budgets to consortia be realised

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Dr Porter is a consultant anaesthetist at the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust. His special interest is in obstetric anaesthesia and the continual development of maternity services to improve the mother's experience, with a particular focus on managing massive obstetric haemorrhage.

He is the chairman of the Local Negotiating Committee at UHCW, and has been a clinical director. He is also an elected member of the BMA Council and Chairman of the Central Consultants and Specialists Committee (CCSC). He was closely involved in negotiating the 2003 consultant contract and was the deputy chairman of the CCSC between 2006-2009 responsible for pay, terms and conditions of service and negotiations.

Presentation: Joint Commissioning

Working collaboratively to improve quality and enhance outcomes.

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Jane Harris is Associate Director of Communications and Campaigns at Rethink Mental Illness. Jane oversees communications and marketing, policy and campaigning work for the organisation. Rethink Mental Illness supports thousands of people every year towards better mental health through information, membership, campaigning and services from housing to psychological therapies.

Jane previously worked in a campaigning role at Rethink, representing the organisation on advisory panels at DH and DWP and as a teacher in Japan. Jane has a degree in Philosophy and Modern Languages and the NCVO Certificate in Campaigning and is studying towards a CIPR Diploma.


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Ciarán Devane was educated at University College, Dublin where he gained first class honours in biochemical engineering. He also holds a Masters Degree in International Policy from George Washington University, Washington DC. He worked for ICI for 8 years before joining Gemini Consulting, an international management consultancy firm. He has also served as Chairman of a major UK Housing Association.

Ciarán joined Macmillan Cancer Support as Chief Executive in May 2007. He serves as a member of Cancer Outcomes Strategy Implementation Advisory Group, the National Stakeholder Forum of the NHS and is a member of the health and work network of the Responsibility Deal. Ciarán co-chairs the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative, sits on the board of the National Cancer Intelligence Network and is a trustee of The Liver Group and the Makaton Charity.


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Professor Davies is the President of the UK Faculty of Public Health.

After qualifying in medicine at Nottingham University, Lindsey worked for seven years in community paediatrics before training in Public Health. She subsequently became Director of Public Health for Southern Derbyshire (1985-9) and for Nottingham (1989-93) before moving in 1993 to the Department of Health's NHS Executive as Head of Public Health. She became Regional Director of Public Health/Regional Medical Director for the Trent region (later the East Midlands region) in 1995 and remained in that post until 2006 when she moved to the Department of Health in London as the National Director of Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, leading the UK's preparations for a flu pandemic. In early 2010, she spent six months as the interim RDPH for London and the Health Advisor to the Mayor

She holds a Special Professorship in Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology at Nottingham University.



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Michael Holden read pharmacy at Portsmouth School of Pharmacy. He was awarded a BSc Pharm in 1976 and did his pre-registration year with Boots in Southport, Lancashire

Following a number of years in various management positions, Michael established his own small community pharmacy group in Hampshire between 1988 and 2002. He then set up a consultancy to support the implementation of change in community pharmacy before working for Pharmacy Alliance at UniChem between 2003 and 2005. In 2005 he was appointed Chief Officer of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Local Pharmaceutical Committee.

During his time with the LPC, Michael was actively involved in the expansion of community pharmacy services, the development of the Healthy Living Pharmacy initiative. He is a member of the Public Health Leadership Forum for Pharmacy, the Pharmacy Clinical Leadership Network, and the Primary Care Clinical Leadership Network.

Michael was appointed Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association in January 2011.

Michael is married with three daughters and lives in Hampshire, England.



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