The roles of different Practice Members

Practice Staff

The Doctors

Duncan Shaw qualified in 1995, a graduate of the University of London. Originally from the South East, he had vocational training posts in a variety of areas before joining the practice in 1999 and settling in Huddersfield. Dr Shaw is a qualified GP trainer and is the reason why we get to supervise junior doctors as part of their training. He has an interest in Child Health.

Sue Walker qualified in 1995, a graduate of Sheffield University. Sue joined Shepley after a period of working part-time in Slaithwaite. Sue is originally from Halifax but is now based in the Huddersfield area with her husband and two daughters.

Paul Culliney qualified in 1993, a graduate of Manchester University. He joined the practice in 2017, and has interests in minor surgery and joint injections. He lives in Holmfirth with his wife and two daughters.

In addition to our three GP partners, we have some additional doctors that come and see patients for us. Some work regular sessions and others work as locums.

Our practice is involved in the traning of future GP's. These doctors, called GP registrars, are attached to a training practice, for training, clinical practice and supervision. When they are having difficulties one of the partners will advice and assist. In any case, after a surgery session the registrar has a debrief, whereby every patient they have seen is discussed. They have all been fully qualified doctors for at least 2 years. Some are early in their specialist training and some are at the end and will be working independently when they leave our practice.

Practice Management

Deborah Melia is our Practice Manager. Deborah is responsible for the efficient, effective and safe management of the practice, ensuring high standards are maintained for the wellbeing of our patients.

Heather Smyth is our Reception Manager. Heather ensured that our patients are greeted in an excellent and professional manner and that all reception areas operate at a high quality service at all times.

Advanced Nurse Practitioners

We are fortunate to have two lovely advanced nurse practitioners, Claire and Natalie.

These are nurses who have undergone specialist (masters degree level) training, to enable them to diagnose, prescribe and refer in the way that a doctor does. In fact, they can deal with nearly all the problems that a GP can deal with, and most patients would not be able to tell that they had had a consultation with a nurse practitioner rather than a doctor.

There are differences however. Unlike a doctor, nurse practitioners are not qualified to deal with pregnancy related issues, (but they can see pregnant mothers for other ailments whilst they are pregnant, such as for infections or indigestion). If you happen to see our nurse practitioner for a problem she cannot deal with she will seek advise from the doctors, and in future, for the same problem she will advice you to see the doctor instead.

For examples of the range of conditions for which it is appropriate to book in with an advanced nurse practitioner click here.

Nurse practitioners work is very different to that of the similar sounding job title of Practice Nurse.

Nursing Team

Alex and Nicole are our very experienced and friendly practice nurses.

Our Practice nurses are qualified and registered nurses. They can help with health promotion advice, wound care, blood pressure checks and vaccinations and foreign travel advice. Our practice nurses also run clinics for our patients who are diagnosed with long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension and COPD. Both our practice nurses are also fully training to carry out cervical smears.

Lisa is our healthcare assistant. Lisa supports our practice nurses with their daily work and carries out tasks such as phlebotomy (drawing blood), hypertension reviews, ECGs and NHS Healthchecks.

Administration

Jayne is our administrator, her role is very varied but a very important one. Jayne assists our practice manager with ensuring the smooth running of the practice.

Reception

Phoebe, Sophie, Nicola, Charanjit, Leah, Elise and Penny make up our wonderful friendly and very capable reception team.

It is hard to produce a comprehensive list of all the tasks our reception staff do for us. They are the first people you will come into contact with at the practice, and ensure that everyone gets their appointments and prescriptions. They can provide basic information or results and signpost our patients to the right clinician depending on the health issue or query. Although they don't often show it, they're each likely to be juggling several tasks simultaneously. They also may act as a chaperone when a patient or doctor requests one.

Secretaries

Kate and Leigh are our outstanding secretaries who deal with referrals and communicate with hospitals and other health care providers. In addition to typing letters and reports, they ensure that referrals happen, and chase up the hospital and outside agencies where necessary.

The MAST Staff

Shepley Surgery is a member practice of the MAST Primary Care Network (PCN). The PCN employ staff, and they spend part of their time working with us to support better access for our patients. These include:

• Advance Nurse Practitioner
• Nurse Associates
• Clinical Pharmacists
• Pharmacy Technicians
• First Contact Physiotherapists

For more information on The MAST PCN please click here.