Other healthcare staff
Annabel Davey, female
Clinical Pharmacist.
Annabel is a clinical pharmacist who works for the Breckland Alliance across the School Lane and Grove surgeries. Annabel studied at the University of Bath and qualified as a pharmacist in 2002. She has a background of working in community pharmacies located within medical practices, and has completed two postgraduate clinical diplomas and her independent prescribing qualification. She is also a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Andrea Green, female
Social prescriber
Andrea joined The Breckland Alliance in January 2020 as a Social Prescriber. Social Prescribing is a means of enabling GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services. Social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way and support individuals to take greater control of their own health. One of the key goals of the Social Prescriber is to help reduce unnecessary demand on front-line health and social care services. Social prescribing is open to all adults and can help a range of people whose needs are non-medical. Andrea has been a Social Prescribing practitioner for many years and has achieved a Level 5 qualification in information, advice and guidance. In her spare time she loves to visit the coast and spends many weekends away with her Husband in their caravan. Originally from Sheffield but has lived in Spain, Manchester and the Midlands as her husband was a publican, and has lived in Norfolk for 12 years and has one son.
Melissa Aiano
Pharmacy technichian/research assistant
Melissa has worked for 10 years in Community Pharmacy. For the last two years of that period she was specifically managing Care Home Medication. She qualified to be a Pharmacy Technician in May 2021 and is working under our Clinical Pharmacist.
Rachel
Physician associate
Rachel is a physician associate who qualified as a physician associate in January 2020. She did her student placement here at Grove Surgery and then joined the team permanently when she qualified. Rachel assists the Doctors in seeing patients, both with minor and chronic illnesses. Physician associates are a relatively new role in the NHS, they train at a Masters level, and are trained via the medical model. Physician associates are generalists that can work in both primary and secondary care;diagnosing, investigating, and treating patients.
Ruth
Physician associate
Ruth is a Physician Associate who qualified in January 2023. She also did her student placement here at Grove Surgery and then joined the team permanently when she qualified. Prior to this she studied Biomedical and Healthcare Science, and worked within laboratory medicine for 10 years. Ruth has also joined the Breckland Alliance clinical research team.
Brigitte
Paramedic
Brigitte has worked in health care for approximately 18 years, 2 years spent in A+E department as a Healthcare Assistant and 16 years for the ambulance service as frontline staff initially as a technician.
Brigitte has been a qualified paramedic for 10 years and has been at the surgery for 2.5 years seeing on the day face to face appointments, she deals with the emergencies that come into the surgery and if you request a home visit it will often be Brigitte that will visit you.
Community midwives
The midwives work as a team called the Castle Hill Midwives Practice. These midwives work in the community giving antenatal and postnatal care. They also work in the hospital giving labour care to pregnant women. The antenatal care is provided at the Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Croxton Road, Thetford. Occasionally a student midwife will be working with the midwives and she will participate in the care of the pregnant woman.
Grove Surgery patients who live in Croxton, Wretham, Kilverstone, Barnham and Elveden, can book with the Castlehill Midwives and can be seen for routine antenatal appointments at the Healthy Living Centre. Postnatal clinics at Sure Start Centres can be discussed on discharge. if required home visits and postnatal visits can also be carried out in these villages.
You can contact the midwives on their answer phone on 01284 713272.
Community nurses
A team of community nurses are located at the Thetford Healthy Living Centre, Croxton Road, Thetford. The team is able to offer treatment and advice to patients and carers in cancer care, wound care, diabetes, leg ulcers, continence and health promotion and education. For further information, please phone 01842 767637 between 8am and 4:30pm, seven days a week. Messages can be left on their answer phone outside these hours.
Health visitors
The health visiting team consists of health visitors, nursery nurses and a healthcare support worker. They offer expert advice on a range of issues including minor illnesses and parenting. Through home visiting, regular clinics and various groups, they provide community support to expectant parents and families with children under five or children with special needs. The health visitors can be contacted on 0300 300 0123, Monday to Friday, between 9am and 5pm via their answer phone and can be found at Surestart, Kingsway, Thetford.