PCDS Committee election candidate biographies (2023)

Rose Inyama

Senior Clinical Pharmacist, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

Rose is a Senior Clinical Pharmacist working in practice pharmacy. She is a knowledgeable primary care pharmacist with over 6 years of experience in providing patient-centred medication reviews.

Determined to improve healthcare standards, Rose has recently conducted a practice-based audit on urine albumin:creatinine ratio screening to identify where the practice sits in comparison to best practice recommended by NICE CKS. She has shared her findings with the practice prescribing lead GP, with recommendations on how to make improvements.

Rose is working on a retrospective research study on prescribing and hospital admissions, which she hopes will guide her in further research on how the multidisciplinary team can work together to improve diabetes care in primary care.

Nadia Malik

Pharmacist, North Stockton PCN

Since joining primary care in 2021, Nadia has directed her clinical skills and passion as a PCN pharmacist towards driving improved patient outcomes, with a specific focus on diabetes and associated co-morbidities.

She is dedicated and determined to address health inequalities alongside cultural inequity in health. She has been involved in developing practical and evidence-based practice for healthcare professionals on advising people with diabetes who are fasting during Ramadan.

As a co-founder of the Tees Valley Diabetes Interest Group, Nadia is motivated to innovate, initiate and spread best practice, supporting the up-skilling of fellow health professionals. Her patient-centred work in the CVRM field has been recognised in the PM Healthcare Journal and posters, and she has presented at high-profile conferences such as the Clinical Pharmacy Congress, Diabetes Professional Care and the i2i Clinical Summit.

David Miller

Practice Pharmacist, Greengates Medical Group, Beverley

As a pharmacist, David has always had an interest in supporting patients to live well with diabetes, having lived with type 1 diabetes himself since the age of 4. A move to general practice in 2018 allowed him to develop this interest further. In 2020, he qualified as an independent prescriber with diabetes as his therapeutic focus, and in 2022 he completed a PGDip in Diabetes Practice.

David runs a PCN diabetes clinic and has been appointed diabetes lead by his practice group (22000 patients). These roles involve management of more complex patients with diabetes, insulin initiation and adjustment, and initiation of CGM. His is a teaching practice, and he supports the practice with teaching and supervision. He engages with the wider diabetes network, both locally and nationally, via social media and conferences, and has delivered teaching at local training events to both primary and secondary care colleagues.

Helen O’Neil

Senior Medicines Optimisation Pharmacist, Tees Valley

Helen is a Senior Medicines Optimisation Pharmacist in Tees Valley and strategically leads on diabetes for the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) ICB. Helen is co-Chair of the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association Diabetes and Endocrinology Committee. She recently completed a clinical research fellowship with the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration NENC, focusing on diabetes and frailty, and she remains an Associate Lecturer at Newcastle University.

Recently, Helen has moved from working in secondary care into primary care, and is keen to promote integrated care. Helen is currently working on implementing a Diabetes Support Team model of care in the Tees Valley, which will involve her independently practising in diabetes clinics as well as coordinating the up-skilling of primary care staff in diabetes.

Helen has a passion for working with older people, and her previous research and publications have involved patients living with both diabetes and frailty.

Hannah Syed

Diabetes Lead Pharmacist, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

Hannah has worked in primary care for several years, leading on diabetes medication optimisation projects locally. She now supports the wider Sussex Health and Care System, working closely with the local Medicines Management Team. Hannah also works in the local diabetes community service, providing clinics for people living with type 2 diabetes and supporting colleagues. She also works regularly in community pharmacy.

Hannah is passionate about reducing health inequalities, especially amongst harder-to-reach communities. Hannah was fortunate to work alongside colleagues on an insulin delegation project, winning a national award for quality improvement in 2021. Over the years, Hannah has worked closely with local community leaders to deliver diabetes prevention and other events at a local mosque. Hannah is also a member of the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association’s Diabetes and Endocrine Committee and is a member of the Diabetes UK Research Steering Groups.

Hannah is standing for the PCDS Committee elections as she wants to help highlight the role of pharmacists working in primary care and how they can support the wider healthcare system. Personally, this opportunity provides an excellent opportunity to learn from experienced colleagues and share best practice.

Unopposed candidates

Vicki Alabraba

Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Leicester Diabetes Centre

Vicki has been a diabetes specialist nurse for 18 years, with experience across both primary and secondary care. She currently works within the Eden team at Leicester Diabetes Centre, where she develops and delivers diabetes education to primary care professionals both locally and nationally. She also works clinically as a community DSN, and is due to start a new position in September 2023 as a DSN within general practice alongside her Eden role.

Vicki is a member of the DSN Forum UK leadership team and part of the MDT Diabetes 101 team. She has a keen interest in type 2 diabetes in primary care, diabetes technology, type 3c diabetes and diabetes service development. She was awarded the Quality in Care (QiC) Diabetes Healthcare Professional of the Year in 2020 and won two QiC Diabetes awards in 2021 with the Diabetes 101 team.

Samina Ali

Advanced Practice Pharmacist with a specialist interest in diabetes, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Ayrshire & Arran

Samina works as an advanced practice pharmacist with a specialist interest in diabetes. She completed her diploma in diabetes, with distinction, at the University of South Wales. She works in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Ayrshire & Arran, where she independently runs diabetes clinics.

Samina is the Chair of the Diabetes Specialist Interest Pharmacist group in Scotland and sits on the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association’s Diabetes and Endocrinology Committee as primary care education lead.

Samina is passionate about delivering diabetes education to both colleagues and those living with diabetes. She also sits on the Diabetes & Primary Care editorial board.

Callum Metcalfe-O’Shea

Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Diabetes Specialist) and Speciality Advisor for Norfolk and Waveney ICB

As an Advanced Nurse Practitioner specialising in diabetes in primary care, Callum autonomously manages and supports people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes through their care journey.

He has recognised the vital requirements of professionals having access to up-to-date information and sharing practice; therefore, with a local endocrinologist, he formed and now chairs the Norfolk Health Professionals Diabetes Forum, with over 100 members across the ICB. This was recognised by NHS England as best practice and led to the creation of the East of England Practice/Community Nurse Forum, with more than 100 delegates attending across the East of England to share best practice and receive up-to-date training.

Callum has published across different areas of diabetes, including deprescribing, in his role as an editorial board member for the Journal of General Practice Nursing.

He believes he has the correct commitment and skills to provide strong representation at the PCDS Committee for nursing and allied health professionals.