Beverley Bostock
Advanced Nurse Practitioner Mann Cottage Surgery, President-Elect Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, Asthma Lead and Respiratory Disease Committee Chair, Association of Respiratory Nurses, Primary Care Respiratory Society Executive Committee Member, Editor in Chief, Practice Nurse Journal, Independent Training Consultant.
Derek Connolly
Consultant Cardiologist, Birmingham City, Sandwell and the forthcoming Midland Metropolitan, University Hospitals. Director of Research & Development, Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust.
Professor Derek Connolly is a Consultant Cardiologist and the Director of Research and Development at Birmingham City Hospital. He holds honorary academic positions at both Aston medical school and at the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK. He trained in Edinburgh, Cambridge, London and San Diego where he was a Carnegie Scholar. He has a first class degree in Pharmacology from the University of Edinburgh where he was the Brunton medallist and Keasbey Bursary holder. His BHF funded PhD in molecular cardiology is from the University of Cambridge. He is the Chief or Primary Investigator of multiple large trials in
Cardiovascular medicine. He was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by Aston University for his contributions to medical science.
Kevin Fernando
GP North Berwick Health Centre
Dr Kevin Fernando FRCGP FRCP Edin. FAcadMEd MSc Diabetes GP Partner North Berwick Health Centre, GP with Specialist Interest in Diabetes/CVRM & Medical Education.
Kevin is a part-time GP Partner (4 clinical patient-facing sessions weekly) working at North Berwick Health Centre, near Edinburgh. He is also Content Advisor for WebMD Medscape Global & UK and Honorary Clinical Reader at the University of Dundee. Kevin is a regular keynote speaker at small and large-scale education events throughout the UK & Ireland and abroad. His main specialist topics include all aspects of care for people living with type 2 diabetes & CVRM conditions and interpretation and management of commonly abnormal blood tests in primary care. Kevin is an accomplished medical writer, and his articles distil key guidelines and consensus for primary care as well as summarise congress highlights and breaking research and its applicability to primary care. Additionally, Kevin has co-authored several articles published in peer-reviewed journals covering multiple aspects of type 2 diabetes & CVRM care in primary care. Kevin is renowned for creating concise clinical aide memoirs (Medscape UK Primary Care Hacks https://www.medscape.co.uk/viewarticle/type-2-diabetes-cardiovascular-renal-metabolic-review-2023a100060c) for primary and secondary care to make life easier for healthcare professionals and ultimately to improve the lives of our patients. Kevin is very active on social media (X handle @drkevinfernando) where he posts hot topics in type 2 diabetes & CVRM as well as delivering “tweetorials”. He recently has forayed into YouTube (@DrKevinFernando) and TikTok (@drkevinfernando) with patient-facing video content. Kevin graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2000 and holds both MRCGP and MRCP(UK) qualifications and has completed a Master’s degree in diabetes which he passed with distinction. Kevin has been elected to Fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and also the Academy of Medical Educators for his work in diabetes and medical education. “When you learn, teach, when you get, give.” Maya Angelou 1928-2014
Niraj Lakhani
Lead clinical pharmacist, Willows Health.
Niraj is currently the lead clinical pharmacist for the largest primary care provider in Leicester, Willows Health. As the pharmacist transformational lead and developmental lead, he oversees a team of 12 pharmacy professionals and is responsible for their professional development and ensuring clinical excellence through governance standards and holistic chronic disease management. As a pharmacist primary care development adviser for the Royal College of General Practitioners, Niraj is also involved in the development and quality improvement of general practice and delivery of care.
Niraj has a keen interest in cardio-renal-metabolic (CaReMe) medicine and is currently the long-term conditions clinical pharmacist lead for the locality as well as the primary care lead for the innovative Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland CKD Integrated Care Delivery project and has worked closely with the UK Kidney Association (UKKA) to develop a peer-led consensus report on all future UKKA guidelines. Niraj is also the chronic disease lead for his practice where he is directly involved in overseeing complex conditions such as diabetes, CKD, cholesterol management and heart failure for over 65,000 patients. Niraj has experience in running at scale quality improvement projects and clinics to improve care and has recently founded the pioneering Willows Health ‘Centre for CaReMe Excellence’ which aims to take population health management approach to lower local health inequalities and improve outcomes for high-risk patients in Leicester in a holistic manner. Niraj’s team’s work in the proactive management for cardio-renal-metabolic diseases has received merit and contributed to his team being named highly commended PCN of the Year and was used as examples of best practice, along with their role in research and new treatment discovery as a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) accredited centre.
