Allied health professionals

Find out more about the importance of these roles:

Pharmacists

Clinical pharmacists work as part of the general practice team to improve value and outcomes from medicines and consult with and treat patients directly. This includes providing extra help to manage long-term conditions, advice for those on multiple medicines and better access to health checks. The role is pivotal to improving the quality of care and ensuring patient safety.

Having clinical pharmacists in GP practices means that GPs can focus their skills where they are most needed, for example on diagnosing and treating patients with more complex conditions. This helps GPs to manage the demands on their time.

www.england.nhs.uk – About clinical pharmacists

Paramedics

The emergence of paramedics in primary care

Traditionally, paramedics have been associated with pre-hospital emergency care, responding to urgent calls, and providing immediate medical assistance at the scene. However, as healthcare systems worldwide grapple with increasing demands and workforce shortages, there has been a shift towards utilizing paramedics’ skills within primary care settings such as GP practices.

This development is partly driven by the need to provide more comprehensive patient-centred care. With their extensive training in emergency medicine and patient assessment skills, paramedics are well-equipped to contribute significantly to primary care services. They can offer additional support to GPs by managing minor illnesses and injuries, conducting health assessments, and even providing home visits for patients who cannot easily access healthcare facilities.

The benefits of having paramedics in GP practices

Integrating paramedics into GP practices offers several benefits for both patients and healthcare providers.

Improved access to care: With paramedics working alongside GPs, patients can have quicker access to medical consultations and treatments. This approach helps reduce waiting times for appointments and ensures that patients receive timely care.
Enhanced continuity of care: Paramedics can provide follow-up care for patients discharged from hospitals or those with chronic conditions requiring regular monitoring. Their involvement ensures continuity of care and reduces the risk of hospital readmissions.
Resource optimisation: By sharing the workload with GPs, paramedics help optimize resources within the practice. They can handle minor cases, freeing up GPs to focus on more complex patient needs.
Increased patient satisfaction: Patients often appreciate the additional support and attention they receive from paramedics in primary care settings. This increased interaction can lead to improved patient satisfaction and better health outcomes.

purosearch.com – The benefits of having paramedics in GP practices.

Advanced nurse practitioner

The ANP role

The role has developed partly to address demand and workforce issues. In general practice it is generally understood to mean a nurse who has undertaken extra training in clinical assessment, including history-taking and physical examination, so they can safely manage patients presenting with undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions.

ANPs can:

prescribe any medicine for any condition within their competence (including some controlled medicines) provided they have completed an Independent Prescribing qualification
see patients with undiagnosed, undifferentiated medical conditions and make treatment decisions, including ordering necessary investigations
refer patients to secondary care, although this can vary depending on local arrangements and protocols
undertake appropriate home visits
sign fit notes

www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/gps/gp-mythbusters/gp-mythbuster-66-advanced-nurse-practitioners-anps-primary-care

Physician associate

The role of the physician associate in general practice

Physician associates (PAs) are generalist healthcare professionals who are trained to the medical model. They work alongside doctors and provide medical care as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team.

As practitioners, physician associates work under the supervision of doctors. They can practise independently and make independent decisions while receiving effective supervision, appropriate collaboration and supportive working relationships with their clinical supervisors.

www.cqc.org.uk/guidance-providers/gps/gp-mythbusters/gp-mythbuster-82-physician-associates-general-practice

Pharmacist

Tobi Amadasun, male

Clinical pharmacist and partner

MRPharmS IP MAPCPharm MBA

Tobi Amadasun joined the Breckland Alliance in 2018 as lead clinical pharmacist. He works across all three Breckland sites. He became a partner at the practice in 2019 and helps support the leadership of the practices across the Alliance. Tobi has a background in community pharmacy, care homes services, pharmacy business development and general practice. He is a graduate of the University of East Anglia (Pharmacy), University of Birmingham (Independent Prescribing) and London school of Commerce (MBA). He has a passion for elderly medicine, type 2 diabetes and medicines management. A local to Watton, Tobi lives in the area with his wife Khadija and two young children. Tobi enjoys involvement in several activities within the community and is a regular guest speaker at the local diabetes society. He enjoys playing football, reading and spending time with family.

Advanced practitioners

Rob Mackie, male

Advanced paramedic practitioner

McPara DipIMC DipIEEC DipPHC

Rob joined Watton Medical Practice in 2015 and has specialised in Primary Care for 30 years. Previously he was a member of the Royal Air Force for 23 years, seeing operational services in Norway, Falkland Islands, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Democratic Republic of Congo to name a few areas. Rob left the RAF in 2000 and started managing Helimed Aeromedical Services, providing helicopter emergency medical services to major sporting events such as F1 Grand Prix, WRC, F1 Offshore Powerboat Championships, World and British Super Bike Championships. He then moved on to serve with EEAST as a paramedic practitioner, clinical operations manager in out of hours and clinical director to CareUK in Suffolk and North Essex. He has 2 sons both in their 20’s. He is also a member of the emergency medical response team at Snetterton race circuit. His interests are generally outdoors/water sport based. He enjoys surfing, kayaking, climbing, travelling, walking, reading, listening to music and walking his beloved Jack Russell, Nalu.

Professor Mark Bilby

Advanced paramedic practitioner
Independent prescriber

McPara, PG Dip

Mark joined Watton Medical Practice in April 2018 following a period of working in acute medicine at the James Paget Hospital. He started his clinical career with the Royal Navy, becoming a Petty Officer, and has more than 40 years of patient care experience in both military and civilian settings. After working in prehospital care in both the West Country and Norfolk, including several years on the East Anglian air ambulance, Mark became one of the UK’s first advanced emergency care practitioners (ECPs). He was appointed an advanced ECP and team leader at Whitechapel walk-in centre, eventually becoming deputy lead clinician and leading its closure and amalgamation into the emergency department and urgent care centre at the Royal London Hospital, developing his skills and knowledge in treating illness and injury, for all patients. Missing Norfolk, he moved back to work in primary care. Mark was amongst the first paramedics to become independent prescribers. Mark is also an associate professor in medical education at Norwich Medical School and is the module lead for primary care on the physician associate Programme. Mark is married to Karen, who is an operations manager for the NHS, they live locally. They have five children and 2 grandchildren between them. Outside work Mark is a keen motorcyclist, both on and off road. He and Karen tour on their motorcycle, he is an enthusiastic cook and enjoys a glass of wine.

Suzanne Martin, female

Advanced nurse practitioner

Sue grew up in Leicestershire before moving to Norfolk to commence her nurse training and qualifying in 1997. Working in older peoples medicine at QEH whilst studying for her degree, where she met her nurse husband. She also had a career in district nursing, management, specialist nurse roles and a community matron. She has recently completed her Advanced Professional Practice Post Graduate Diploma to work as an Advanced Nurse Practitioner upon joining the surgery in March 2023. Sue has a huge passion about improving care for our older population. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family and 2 rescue dogs, meeting up with friends and reading.

Kezia Wilkinson, female

Physician associate

Kezia graduated from the UEA in 2021 with a degree in Biological Sciences. She then went on to study for another 2 years at UEA gaining her MSc as a physician associate. She grew up in Norfolk and attended Wayland Academy High School. Kezia enjoys playing sports in her spare time, mostly spending time at the gym, or playing netball in a competitive league in Norwich.

Healthcare team

Rebecca Willies, female

Pharmacy technician

Rebecca has worked within pharmacy for over 20 years, qualifying as a pharmacy technician in 2011. She has worked in several community pharmacies up until 2015 when she worked at a mental health hospital as a medicines management technician. She moved to Norfolk in 2020 and worked within prison healthcare as a wing pharmacy technician. Moving to primary care in 2023, to take on a new branch within Pharmacy and help make a difference to patients. Rebecca has a 5 year old child, enjoys doing many crafts including diamond art, string art and knitting. She also helps run a bi-yearly charity short mat bowls competition where she helped raise £17,000 for various charities including Mind, Great Ormond Street, Guide dogs and Marie Curie.

Andrea Green, female

Social prescriber

Andrea joined The Breckland Alliance in January 2020 as a social prescriber. Social prescribing is a means of enabling GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services. Social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way and support individuals to take greater control of their own health. One of the key goals of the social prescriber is to help reduce unnecessary demand on front-line health and social care services. Social prescribing is open to all adults and can help a range of people whose needs are non-medical. Andrea has been a social prescribing practitioner for many years and has achieved a Level 5 qualification in information, advice and guidance. In her spare time she loves to visit the coast and spends many weekends away with her husband in their caravan. Originally from Sheffield but has lived in Spain, Manchester and the Midlands as her husband was a publican, and has lived in Norfolk for 12 years and has one son.

Tell us whether you accept cookies