Meet the Team
Our diverse team includes dedicated staff from various aspects of Primary Care:
Our Chairman is Dr Neil James, is a full time general practitioner working in Meddygfa Cwm Rhymni in the Gwent Valleys. The practice has over 18,000 patients in an area of extreme social deprivation. Over the past 20 years Neil and his GP colleagues have established a practice from a state of vacancy to a new collaborative partnership. The practice has continued to develop by merging with other smaller practices locally in the Rhymney Valley and building sustainability and quality along the way. He is originally from Caerphilly but has worked as a general practitioner overseas and in different parts of the UK.
The Chair is Mrs Joanna Watts-Jane, a full time practice manager with a range of experience in different areas of deprivation. Joanna currently manages Hirwaun Medical Centre, having formerly been in an inner city Newport practice for 3 years and in the Blaenau Gwent Valley for 4 years. Joanna believes that your postcode should not be the deciding factor in your health.
Dr Kathrin Thomas is a retired GP and Consultant in Public Health. Kathrin has focussed on tackling health inequity, both working as a family doctor in the most deprived communities in Liverpool and the South Wales Valleys, and in a variety of strategic public health roles. She is a Bevan Commission Senior Fellow focusing on maximising the health sector contribution to tackling health inequities. She is Co-Chair of the UK Faculty of Public Health Special Interest Group for Primary Care and Public Health and a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners Health Equity Special Interest Group. She also has an interest in global health, as recent past Chair of the Wales and Africa Health Links Network, and remains involved in a long-term partnership between Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and the Ministry of Health in Lesotho.
The network is supported by:
- Project lead: Nicola Edmunds, Head of RCGP Wales and ROI
- Academic lead: Dr Haroon Ahmed, Senior Clinical Lecturer, Cardiff University
- Amy Clarke Executive Administrative Assistant RCGP
- Qualitative research lead: Professor Fiona Woods, Medical Sociologist, Cardiff University