Dr Akbar is a consultant Physician and Gastroenterologist, currently working at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation trust. He graduated in 2009 from St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London medical school and did his Gastroenterology training the in the Wessex region. He Is currently Clinical Director for medicine and is clinical lead for PAs.

In 2018, he was awarded young Gastroenterologist of the year: emerging leader by the British Society of Gastroenterology. He was awarded a Masters of Science in Medical leadership by the Royal College of Physicians.

He was appointed Physician Associate advocate for Wessex in 2020 and more recently was appointed as the Regional clinical director to the Southeast School of PA ( Thames Valley/Wessex facing).

Emily is a Programme Manager for the Thames Valley and Wessex Hub at SESPA.   She is currently undertaking a BA (Hons) in Applied Management at Henley Business School.  Emily is also an experienced Physician Associate currently working part-time in the Ears, Nose and 

Throat Department at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.     

Andrew is the administrator for the Thames Valley and Wessex hub of the South East School Of Physician Associates. Andrew has 8 years experience working within the Patient Experience team at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading. Andrew joined the team in September 2022 and helps to assist the team and Physician Associates across the region covering a range of administrative and clerical tasks.

Eleanor Harrison is a qualified PA working in Cardiology at St. Marys Hospital Isle of Wight.
Ellie completed a PGDip in PA studies at the University of Surrey in 2020. Prior to this she completed a BSc in Biomedical Science from Cardiff University.
Ellie was one of the first PAs employed at St. Marys Hospital and the first in Cardiology and is passionate about advocating the role of PAs across all medical specialities and career development and progression for practicing PAs. Ellie has examined OSCEs at the University of Portsmouth as well as undertaking teaching at the university. She also has experience in supporting prospective students and first- and second-year students on placement at St. Marys Hospital involving timetabling and takes an active role in mentoring and teaching the PA students.
Ellie was appointed as a PA Ambassador in May 2022. She looks forward to working closely with the existing PA ambassadors within the Hampshire and Isle of Wight region to promote the PA role and help with recruiting and retaining Physician Associates.

Francine Olivero is an experienced PA currently working within the Endocrine & Diabetes team at the Royal Berkshire Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Originally from Gibraltar, Francine moved to the UK to read Biomedical Sciences followed by completion of postgraduate study.

She has a keen interest in ensuring quality training of PAs, as well as educating others about the role. She is involved with student admissions, has organised several educational conferences for PAs in the region and has presented at regional & national events to promote the profession.

Together with a colleague she submitted a poster about Physician Associates working in innovative “Joint Working Roles” which was shortlisted and displayed at the RCGP Conference. Francine was appointed as a PA Ambassador in 2019 and hopes to build on all of her previous work to ensure PAs are a resounding success and a necessary part of the medical workforce for years to come.

Kirstie is a qualified, experienced PA and has been working as a member of the profession for 4 years. She graduated from the PA Studies programme at St Georges, University of London in 2018.

Kirstie previously worked for University Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She was the first PA employed by the Trust and has worked in both Neonatology and Paediatric Surgery. She was integral to changing attitudes and awareness of the role. She has also been teaching and guiding the PA students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, is involved in the integration of new PA roles in different specialties and briefly worked as Lead PA in Brighton, developing policies and forums for PAs.

She was also previously employed to teach PA students at the University of Portsmouth. This allowed her to further advocate for the profession and inspire the next generation of PA colleagues.

Kirstie currently works clinically in primary care. She sees patients of all ages with a wide variety of conditions, both acute and chronic. She enjoys diagnosing and treating patients, and had many a conversation about the PA role with patients!

Kirstie has been a PA Ambassador since September 2021. This role allows her to continue advocating for PAs in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight area. She hopes that with her input, the knowledge and awareness regarding PAs in both primary and secondary care will be increased. This will hopefully lead to PA progression and improved workforce transformation in the NHS.

Liz Goudie is an experienced, qualified PA working in the Care of the Elderly department at East Surrey Hospital, part of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust where she has worked since 2018.
Formerly she worked for a pharmaceutical company as part of her undergraduate studies in Biology at The University of Bath where she developed a keen interest in medicine. She later volunteered in a care home where she enjoyed talking with older people and became inspired to pursue a career in healthcare.
Liz trained in PA studies at St George’s, University of London and after qualification, joined East Surrey Hospital in the Orthogeriatric team where she worked for over 3 years. For the past 6 months she has further developed within the care of the elderly speciality by working in the rapid access frailty clinic, The Pendleton Unit. Here she helps diagnose and manage medical conditions in older people referred via GPs or areas of secondary care for speciality advice. Key parts of her role include providing continuity of care for patients, families and staff in a busy hospital and facilitating the induction of new doctors settling into clinical teams. She has continued the development of a follow-up clinic for patients who have had a neck of femur fracture on behalf of the National Hip Fracture Database and she has been involved in several quality improvement projects. She has experience teaching and presenting at grand round, speciality meetings to doctors and other Physician Associates in the region.
Since starting as a PA ambassador for the Hampshire and Isle of Wight region in August 2021, Liz has facilitated discussions with employers in mental health, secondary care and cancer care providing information around the training, recruitment and development of PAs. She has helped develop job descriptions and job plans working with medical directors and clinical nurse specialists across the region. In addition she has hosted and coordinated several webinars to support newly qualified PAs, employers exploring PA deployment into specialty areas and has presented alongside other allied healthcare professionals about the value of multi-disciplinary teams.
Liz enjoys educating patients and employers about the role and value of PAs and is happy to be contacted to provide guidance to prospective or current PA students, working PAs and employers.

Sarah is a qualified, experienced PA currently working with the Kent and Medway ICB as their PA Lead.
Sarah graduated with the first cohort of PAs from St. George’s PA programme in 2010. Following qualification Sarah worked in Trauma and Orthopaedics at St. George’s hospital, where she led on enabling integration of the PA role into the trust, PA development and trust wide PA support and teaching. Sarah has also spent time at East Surrey Hospital working within Acute Medicine and was Lead PA for the Trust from 2018 – 2020, as well as PA Representative for the Society of Acute Medicine’s Council from 2017-2019.
Sarah moved into primary care as Lead PA for Tunbridge Wells Primary Care Network in 2020 where she developed the role and supported the local GP Federation with PA role creation. She now works two days/week for the Kent and Medway ICB as the PA Lead.
Sarah has been involved in various aspects of the PA profession including the UK Association of Physician Associates (UKAPA – the predecessor of the Faculty of PAs) as Director for Legislation and then Director of Communications. Sarah was also Secretary for the Managed Voluntary Register during her time on the UKAPA Board between 2010-2014. Sarah has examined OSCEs at several PA programmes and is also a PA National OSCE examiner. Sarah has been a PA Ambassador in KSS since 2019 and has used her in-depth experience and understanding of PAs to develop strategies around PA utilisation across the area, supporting students, working PAs and PA supervisors.