Four new members elected to the PCRS Executive
After a close election, PCRS congratulates Katherine Hickman, Vince Mak, Daryl Freeman and Ren Lawlor who have been elected for a three year term of office on the PCRS Executive. Katherine, Vince and Daryl were re-elected to their posts.
Katherine Hickman, a GP, is respiratory lead for the Leeds and Bradford CCGs and chairs the Leeds Respiratory Steering Group and a number of respiratory sub-groups. She is Primary Care Lead for the National Asthma and COPD Audit Programme (NACAP) and was recently appointed Respiratory Lead for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership
Katherine is PCRS Executive Vice Chair, chairs the Conference Organisation Committee, is a member of the Service Development Committee and is leading on the Asthma Right Care work stream.
She says: “I want to embed the work PCRS does into every aspect of my respiratory work both nationally and locally. It is also my responsibility as a PCRS Executive member to make sure that as many people across the UK hear our messages. Equally I want to bring the work I am doing locally in West Yorkshire to the Executive so we can learn from the experiences on the ground.”
Vince Mak is a consultant physician in Respiratory Integrated Care at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He is the Clinical Director for the NHS England (London Region) Respiratory Clinical Network and the Respiratory Clinical Lead for the NHS London Procurement Partnership. He sits on a number of respiratory steering/working groups and recently finished a five year term as the Regional Advisor for Service Quality for the Royal College of Physicians.
He is a member of the Service Development Committee.
Vince says: “I believe the future of respiratory care involves working together in an integrated and holistic manner with patients at the centre. Being on the PCRS Executive Committee gives me an opportunity to help shape the future of respiratory care in the UK for our communities. I will be able to bring my broad experience of local and national policies and practices to the PCRS for the benefit of our membership and the wider community.”
Daryl Freeman, GP, is an Associate Clinical Director working for Norfolk Community Health and Care.
Her role is a combination of clinical (predominantly frail elderly) and strategic - looking at improving care for patients out of hospital across Norfolk. She is Chair of Norfolk and Waveney Respiratory Right Care working Group, and has undertaken research and written respiratory articles over many years.
She is Chair of the Service Development Committee and sits on the Conference Organising Committee.
She says: “The Executive Committee is where major decisions about the future direction and policies of PCRS are made, where all the senior committee members get a chance to meet and network, and where we ensure that all the various work streams of the PCRS are aligned and complimentary. As an elected member I will work to ensure that service development is fully represented within the overall strategy of PCRS.”
Ren Lawlor, works as advanced nurse practitioner in an extended access service in south east London and as a senior lecturer at University of Greenwich. Her clinical role involves seeing both adults and children for various physical and mental health conditions including acute and chronic respiratory conditions. She is the general practice lead at the university running both the Fundamental and Advanced GPN courses, leads on the advanced practice modules and provides bespoke training for CCGs and Primary Care Networks.
A member of the PCRS Education Committee and author of the PCRS Fit to Care professional development document, she says: “I very much enjoy being part of the Education Committee and feel that my experience and dual role in the clinical care of patients and education of healthcare professionals will be able to be put to good use in my role as an Executive Committee member.”