Dr Louise Sands to lead the GP Sub Deanery

Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University are delighted to announce the appointment of the GP Sub-Dean and Locality Leads for Northern Ireland.

With the ongoing expansion of undergraduate teaching in primary care through both Medical Schools, a need was identified to develop an infrastructure to oversee the governance and to support the expansion of clinical education in General Practice / Primary Care.  

To meet this need, the Northern Ireland GP Clinical Placement Alliance (NIGPCPA) was established. It is a collaborative partnership between the GP teams in the two medical schools, supported and enabled by the Department of Health. 

Responding to the news Prof Nigel Hart, Associate Director for General Practice and Primary Care declared “ I am thrilled that Dr Sands has been appointed to this pivotal role. Louise brings with her a wealth of experience. Having worked as a GP Principal, GP Trainer and Programme Director, as well as being an active RCGP Mentor and Clinical Teaching Fellow, there is no one better placed to take on this new post and to ensure parity of status for primary care GP Tutors with their secondary care counterparts”.

 

In addition to the appointment of Dr Sands the following appointment have been made:-

Locality Lead, Southern FSU Area, Dr James McMullan

Locality Lead, Eastern FSU Area, Dr Mary Donnelly

Locality Lead Eastern FSU Area, Dr Claire Williamson

Locality Lead, Northern FSU Area, Dr Orla Laverty

Locality Lead, Western FSU Area, Dr Brenda Campbell

Administrative Support, Mrs Joanne Bryson (QUB) and Miss Jenny McLaughlin (UU)

Module Leads - full details of appointees will be made available in New Year

 

Dr Sands stated “I am delighted to take up the post of GP Sub Dean and look forward to having the full team in place in the coming weeks.  The NIGPCPA will aim to support Teaching Practices and GP Tutors in the delivery of clinical education through the alignment of processes, timelines, and communications with all GP Practices in Northern Ireland. I look forward to working with our educational partners in primary care to champion teaching at practice level.”