Wendy has worked for Health First as Clinical Director since its inception in 2010 and represents Health First on the board of Wigan GP Alliance.
Wendy has been working in Primary Care since 1990 when she was one of the first practice nurses in the country and subsequently in 1993 became one of the first Nurse Practitioners.
She progressed to becoming practice nurse course leader and Programme Director for the MSc in Clinical Nursing at the University of Manchester and external examiner for Non-Medical Prescribing and Primary Care Nursing at the University of Wolverhampton.
For 6 years she was chair of the Advanced Nurse Practitioner forum at the Royal College of Nursing and represented the RCN on national working parties with regard to nurses in commissioning. She was also on the working party which developed the RCN advanced practitioner credentialing system.
Karen is a founding member and Director of Health First ALW which was set up along with Wendy Fairhurst in 2010. Health First initially started with 15 member practices and has steadily grown over the years.
Karen has worked in the NHS for 40 years the last 14 years being a Practice Manager in Chandler house. Prior to that working for the CCG ( FPC, Health authority and a few other names that the organisation has had over the last 40 years). Karen's positions have always been in primary care and has attained a great and varied knowledge of primary care over the years.
“I worked as a GP in the NHS for 37 years up to my retirement last year. Mine was a portfolio career and as well as my clinical work I was also involved in the commissioning of cancer services for Salford CCG and the regulation of general practice in my role as a medical adviser to NHS England. I was a non-executive director on the Board of Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS FT for 5 years, leaving in April 2023. These days most of my time is taken up with riding my bike and babysitting our ever increasing number of grandchildren”.
Susie has recently joined Health First CIC as a Director with over 30 years’ experience in Primary Care.
Since leaving school Susie has worked in 4 Surgeries within Wigan Borough working her way up from Receptionist to Practice Manager. She has been a Practice Manager for over 10 years and In July 2019 Susie took on the extra role as Lead Practice Manager for TABA Primary Care Network.
My name is Dr Ajay Mudugal. I qualified as a Gp from Wigan in 2014 and been working here since then which has given me a good insight of how primary care works in local area. I have been a tutor for medical students from Manchester and currently trainer for GP students which has helped me to develop more leadership qualities and working as part of a team in Health First has made me fine tune those skills, to work with different teams and integrate better. Working with different PCN's has helped me understand how different areas have different needs and I hope to help the PCN's to deliver the best care for possible for patients.
Debbie was appointed as a Director of Health First CIC in May 22. Debbie has worked in the NHS for over 20 years, starting in the Commissioning Team at North Cheshire Health Authority in 2000 before moving into various NHS management commissioning & contracting positions specialising in Planned Care within Primary Care Groups and Primary Care Trusts whilst attaining a BSc in Public Health and a Post Graduate Diploma in Health & Social Care Strategic Management. In 2012, she moved into NHS hospital management at Aintree Hospital for 6 years leading on the delivery of the NHS Acute Contract for Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) Programmes and the Trust’s Quality Account. Debbie has been working in the NHS Wigan locality since 2019, firstly leading the out-patient transformation programme for Planned Care for Wigan Borough CCG before moving to TABA+ PCN as their PCN Business Manager where she has been a key driver in the successful delivery of the first phases of the COVID vaccination programme and the recruitment of 30+ PCN staff in collaboration with the Health First Team.
I joined HF in August 2021 during the pandemic as the clinical lead for the COVID vaccination service. I joined HF to learn more about service development and provision from the vastly experienced team who come from different backgrounds in the health sector. I thoroughly enjoy working with like minded individuals who form the team at HF where the ultimate goal is to improve the health of the people in the borough.
Linda joined Health First in 2014 with 34 years experience in Primary Care/Public Health working with cervical/breast screening programmes and CVD screening.
Linda has worked closely with GP practices in the borough over these years offering help and support and working with other lifestyle services to help to improve the health of the borough’s population.
Linda was involved in the roll out of the Find & Treat CVD screening programme in the Borough now known as the NHS Health Check National programme and has brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to the current role. Linda has been involved with increasing the workforce of Health First to meet recently increase demands on our services during the global pandemic and is dedicated to help ensure that the health needs of the residents of the Borough have been met throughout this challenging time.
I have worked within primary care for 21 years, starting my career as a business administration apprenticeship, and currently work as an advanced clinical practitioner after attaining a masters degree in advanced practice in 2017. I am passionate about primary care and education.
Within general practice, there is no referral or discharge criteria, caring for patients from cradle to grave. This amazing and unique workplace enables us to have the biggest impact on patient care and outcomes. Working across primary care networks and the local borough has enabled me to deliver patient services and education at scale, offering the best outcomes to a larger footprint of population. Working as a clinical leader within primary care I have been able to demonstrate this impact within our community, and as such, attained the Queens Nurse Award in 2023.
My career journey enabled me to gain understanding at every level of the primary care workforce, so that I can offer practical solutions to daily problems, ensuring a confident and competent workforce delivering the best patient outcomes. This passion for both education and the best care delivery inspired the Health First Training Academy concept, delivering bespoke training to primary care staff across our borough.
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