Andrea James

Andrea James is a solicitor and expert in professional discipline and healthcare regulatory law. She specialises in defending healthcare professionals at fitness to practise proceedings before their regulatory bodies. Her clients include The Medical Defence Society, The College of Paramedics, The National Pharmacy Association and many individual regulated professionals.

Andrea now has over 18 years’ experience in this area of law, including three years spent as in-house legal adviser to the General Medical Council itself.

In 2021, Andrea was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the College of Paramedics. She is a member of the Association of Regulatory & Disciplinary Lawyers, the Dental Law & Ethics Forum, Manchester & District Medico-Legal Society and a Committee member of the Pharmacy Law & Ethics Association. She is qualified to practise in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. The Legal 500 directory (the independent directory of the world’s leading lawyers) states ‘Andrea James knows more case law than any solicitor I’ve ever worked with in the field of professional discipline. She works tirelessly for every client and never leaves a point unchallenged.’

Dr Andrew Beechey

I qualified from Bristol in 1977, intending to become a GP, but wanted to experience anaesthetics before settling down to my chosen career.  I loved anaesthetics, and in the process realised I would never be a good GP.

I trained in Gloucester, Cambridge, Liverpool and Nottingham and held consultant posts in Cape Town and Harefield before moving to Sheffield in 1989 as a cardiothoracic anaesthetist and Clinical Lead for the Cardiac ICU. I developed an interest in long term ventilation and weaning and led the development of a long-term/domiciliary ventilation unit in the Supra Regional Spinal Injuries Unit sited in Sheffield.  My increasing involvement in the Spinal injuries Unit led to me becoming its Clinical Director for seven years.

My interest in in developing a non-medical role within anaesthesia stems from experiences as a trainee in the 1980s.  I became Clinical Lead for development of APs/PAs/PAAs in Sheffield, initially in the Cardiac Unit and later the general department. I was appointed to the RCoA Anaesthesia Related Professions Committee and subsequent HEE/DoH Committees leading to the recommendation for the regulation of Physician and Anaesthesia Associates.

Since retirement in February 2022, I have become involved in setting up a community garden and am in the process of applying to become a Lollipop man.

Dr Brigitte Dupont

Consultant in ITU and Anaesthetics at Aintree University Hospital appointed on 1st March 2002

Full-time Anaesthetist from 2014, with special interest in Endocrine Anaesthesia

Associate Medical Director for Appraisal and Revalidation at Aintree until November 2020

Co-lead for Anaesthesia Associates Aintree site together with Hilary Wallace- started in June 2021

Clinical Lead for organ donation Aintree site

Clare Barton

Clare Barton is Assistant Director AA/PA regulation at the General Medical Council. Clare has a background in education and regulation having previously worked at the University of Paisley and the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants. She joined the GMC in 2006 as Head of Applications, overseeing the teams that deal with applications from doctors all over the world to join the Register.

She then became Assistant Director Revalidation, Licensing and Specialist Applications. She was responsible for the process required for those doctors seeking to gain entry to the specialist and GP registers. She oversaw the revalidation team which receives recommendations from Responsible Officers and makes the revalidation decisions for all doctors registered with a licence to practise. She also had responsibility for the team that dealt with applications to leave and restore to the register and to give up a licence.

Clare is currently responsible for leading the programme to bring Physicians Associates and Anaesthesia Associates into the regulation of the GMC.

David Wilkinson

David joined the NHS in 1985. He trained as an ODA in Edinburgh before moving to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital in 1994. He was one of the first cohort of AAs trained in the UK and was a founder member and the first President of the Association, representing AAs at the RCoA for several years. He has illustrated many medical publications including the Oxford Handbook of Anaesthesia. In his spare time he has represented Great Britain numerous times at Duathlon, winning National, European and World medals in his age group.

Emma Harrison

I have been an Anaesthesia Associate (AA) for nine years working at Salford Royal.
Prior to starting my career at Salford, I completed a Biomedical Science degree and then spent some time living and working in China.
In my clinical role I am interested in anaesthesia for trauma patients and have a keen interest in providing regional anaesthesia for both analgesia and anaesthetic technique. In September 2021 I was able to enhance my clinical career by a secondment within Health Education England in the North West as the Regional AA Advisor.

I am now starting my second secondment with Health Education England North West as the Anaesthesia Associate Clinical Fellow.
This role has allowed me to share my passion for the workforce and have a positive influence in the region whilst still being able to work in a clinical capacity.

Helen Arrowsmith

Helen Arrowsmith is a Programme Manager at the General Medical Council, currently responsible for co-ordinating the GMC’s work to bring physician associates and anaesthesia associates into statutory regulation.

Helen has a background in project and programme management in the public sector, having previously worked at the Audit Commission and in local government. She joined the GMC in 2012 and has led a number of projects covering registration, revalidation, education and assessment.

As well as managing the GMC’s internal work programme, Helen is heavily involved in external engagement with stakeholders including government health departments and organisations representing, training or employing AAs and PAs.

Irfan Mehmood

I completed a Biomedical Sciences degrees in 2007 and was fortunate to commence training as a trainee AA the same year (Anaesthesia Practitioner as it was then), qualifying in Jan 2010.

I went on to complete a Masters in Healthcare Law shortly after, as well as joining our associations committee, as I was keen to be involved in shaping the future of our profession very early on. Not long after I was elected to lead our association, which was quite unexpected! Over the 9 years I led our Association until 2021, there were many significant developments for the profession leading us toward regulation, working very closely with the RCoA, HEE and more recently the GMC and DHSC. It was very demanding in terms of the time commitment but, very rewarding and I learnt and developed a great deal on the way.

I have continued to work as an AA throughout that time at Salford Royal, which has recently merged to become the Northern Care Alliance. Immediately following the end of my term as President, I commenced secondments within my organisation to look at the ODP workforce supply issues and help expand the trainee  and qualified AA workforce in our Trust.

I continue to be involved in various working groups and parties, having up to now led the AA prescribing work and working with the GMC to develop the AA registration assessment.

I hope to continue to work locally and nationally to develop and progress the AA profession for many years to come.

I live and work in Greater Manchester. I’m married with 2 young children. I enjoy (a tiny bit of) running, cycling and taekwondo. I only kind-of like coffee and use android and windows, so not a complete stereotype!

Jon Stones

Jon Stones is a team leader in the Professional Regulation branch at the Department of Health and Social Care. Jon has led on a number of policy and legislative projects since joining the team, most recently on cosmetic regulation. Prior to moving into policy,  Jon held a range of Department roles in the Corporate business management and Human Resources functions.

Dr Kevin Fong

Kevin Fong is consultant anaesthetist at UCLH and professor of public engagement and innovation in the Department of Science, Technology, Education and Public Policy (STEaPP) at University College London. Dually accredited in anaesthesia and critical care medicine, he also works as a helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) doctor with Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex. In March 2020, Kevin was seconded to NHS England as National Clinical Advisor in Emergency Preparedness Resilience and Response for the COVID-19 incident.

He is an honorary senior lecturer in physiology at University College London, where he organises and runs an undergraduate course in Extreme Environment Physiology. He studied astrophysics and medicine at University College London and a masters in astronautics and space engineering at Cranfield University. He is a member of Royal College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal College of anaesthetists and has completed postgraduate clinical training in Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine. Kevin has a long standing interest in human space exploration and space medicine and has worked with NASA’s Human Adaptation and Countermeasures Office at Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

Laura McEwan Smith

Laura is National Programme Lead for Medical Associate Professions, within the Health Education England Directorate of Education and Quality.  Laura has led successful programmes of innovative workforce transformation across a range of clinical professions, at national, regional, and integrated care system level. Laura’s current work focusses on developing and shaping the education, training, and careers of the Medical Associate Professions, including Anaesthesia Associates. This includes research, development, pilot delivery, strategic planning, and evaluation of education and training solutions to address workforce challenges.

Lisa Churchill

My name is Lisa Churchill, and I am a Lead Anaesthesia Associate from Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust. A nurse by background, I have 22 years’ experience as a practitioner in Anaesthetics working in Switzerland, England, and Wales. I am passionate about the progression and development of Anaesthesia Associates. My life away from work is with my husband and son, on a small holding in Wales surrounded by nature and animals.

Dr Paul Thomas

Consultant Anaesthetist Royal Devon & Exeter Foundation Trust since 2001.

Trained at the Royal London Hospital Medical College 1985-1990.

Currently working as RCoA National Clinical Lead for the Anaesthetic Associate Programme.

Committed to training of both Anaesthetic trainees locally and nationally, and currently serving my 8th year as a College Final FRCA Examiner.

Intimately involved in the AA programme since its conception in 2002 after securing government funding to explore the role for the first time in the UK.

Currently working in a trust with 4 qualified AAs and about to start training a further cohort this Autumn.

Committed microbrewer and traditional pig breeder who also dabbles in beekeeping, kitesurfing and has a passion for wild camping and all things ‘outdoorsy’.

Phil Harper

Phil Harper is Deputy Director for Professional Regulation at the Department of Health and Social Care. Phil joined the team in April 2022, having worked on DHSC’s COVID-19 response since January 2021. Prior to joining the Department, Phil held a range of NHS roles at national and local levels, most recently working as Associate Director of Strategy at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS FT.

Professor Tom Clutton-Brock MBE

Tom is Professor of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine in Birmingham, with interests in teaching, patient safety and device usability testing. Tom has been the programme director for the Anaesthesia Associates PG Diploma / MSc at Birmingham since 2005. He was a (part-time) Senior Medical Officer at the MHRA and is Associate Medical Director at UHB and Chair of NICE Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee.  Since 2013 he has been the Clinical Director of the NIHR Trauma HTC/MIC and from October 2014 the Deputy Director of the Institute of Translational Medicine.  In 2016 he became Director of the Medical Devices Testing and Evaluation Centre (MD-TEC). MD-TEC is a unique facility with hi-fidelity simulation settings for the testing of novel medical devices and related technologies.  Tom was awarded an MBE in 2021 for services to the NHS during COVID-19.

     Professor William Harrop-Griffiths MA MB BS FRCA FCAI (Hon)

• Professor of Practice (Anaesthesia), Imperial College, London
• Consultant Anaesthetist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London
• Civilian Consultant Advisor in Anaesthesia to the British Army
• Chair, Founding Board of the Faculty of Anaesthesia Associates at the Royal College of Anaesthetists
• Past Vice President, Royal College of Anaesthetists
• Past President, Association of Anaesthetists
• Past President, Triservice Anaesthesia Society
• Honorary Membership of the Association of Anaesthetists
• Honorary Fellowship of the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland
• Carl Koller Gold Medal of the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia
• John Snow Silver Medal, Association of Anaesthetists
• Guthrie Memorial Medal, Royal Army Medical Corps
• Humphry Davy Medal, Royal College of Anaesthetists
• ASA Medal, Australian Society of Anaesthetists

His clinical interests include orthopaedic, obstetric and vascular anaesthesia. His non-clinical interests include riding horses, bicycles and motorcycles. His passions are his family, English grammar, patient safety and not falling off horses, bicycles or motorcycles.