Executive Committee
The Primary Care Women’s Health Society Executive Committee comprises practicing healthcare professionals with a special interest in women’s health and leading medical education specialists.
Dr Julie Oliver
GPwSI Women's Health, Durham
I was always interested in women’s health as a medical student, I loved my obstetric attachment and started off pursuing a career in obs and gynae. I soon discovered that I needed uninterrupted sleep and so moved into GP training. I couldn’t shake off the interest in women’s health so in my spare time I did the FSRH diploma, learned to fit coils and implants, and passed the DRCOG.
Alongside working as a GP in Durham I developed a love of training and as well as studying for the Bradford Postgrad diploma in women’s health became a FSRH trainer. This resulted in crossing paths with Dr Anne Connolly MBE and the rest is history. We set up the PCWHF/S as a way to keep networking with other GPs who had an extended role in women’s health and it snowballed.
I also set up my own business called Durham Gynae and through that deliver NHS commissioned clinics and training. I also learned the art of gynae ultrasound scanning and gained advanced menopause training.
I love great fiction and seeing the world.
Dr Anne Connolly MBE
GPwSI Gynaecology, Bradford
After a two year volunteer posting to an under-resourced mission hospital in rural Zimbabwe, Anne returned to general practice in inner-city Bradford in 1990 where she was a partner in a large teaching practice for 25 years. She moved to work in an inclusion health practice providing care for asylum seekers, refugees, homeless and sex workers before retiring from clinical practice in 2023.
After qualifying with a post-graduate diploma in GPSI gynaecology, she recognised the need for improving education for the multi-disciplinary team working in primary care women’s health and was one of the founding members of the Primary Care Women’s Health Forum. She was also accredited as a hysteroscopist, colposcopist and FSRH trainer.
Other previous roles include CCG clinical board member with remit for maternity, women’s, children and young people’s healthcare, FSRH VP Membership, RCGP Women’s Health Champion and PCWHS Chair.
Anne was honoured to be awarded an MBE for her work in women’s health in the 2021 Queens Birthday Honours List.
Dr Stephanie Cook
GPwSI Women's Health, Liverpool
Dr Stephanie Cook is a GP from Liverpool with a special interest in women’s health. Steph has been involved with the design, development and implementation of women's health hubs across Liverpool and is the clinical lead for this service for Cheshire and Merseyside ICB. The work in Liverpool has provided a wealth of material to support the development of women’s health hubs across the country and continues to draw significant interest at a national level. Steph is also a director of Primary Care Women’s Health Society and a national speaker on the topic of women’s health. Steph is a faculty registered trainer for implants and coils, a BMS menopause specialist and has a Certificate in Ultrasound for Gynaecological Procedures & Early Pregnancy. She is passionate about improving access to services, reducing health inequalities and supporting training and education for other health care professionals in women's health.
Dr Caroline Cooper
GPwSI Women's Health, Cambridge
MBChB, MRCGP, FFSRH, Diploma in Psychosexual Medicine, MSc in Community Gynaecology and Reproductive Healthcare, PGA in Medical Education, BMS Management of the Menopause Certificate.
Like many of my colleagues on the board, my background is in general practice, where I gained extensive experience in women’s health, and learnt even more about life. I have been involved with the Primary Care Women’s Health Forum since the beginning, and am incredibly proud to have seen it grow into a thriving society.
My main interest, alongside women’s health, is medical education. I am a trainer for the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and the programme director for Bayer Pharma’s IUT training, helping to improve healthcare professionals' access to contraception training across the UK. Additionally, I work as a communication specialist with Cambridge medical students and I am the education lead for the Primary Care Women’s Health Society.
Over the years, my career has taken me from general practice to specialist sexual and reproductive health clinics, community gynaecology, and back to general practice, always with the core focus being women’s health.
To me, women’s health goes beyond gynaecology. It's about holistic care, education, and ensuring that every woman has the choice and access she needs for her sexual and reproductive health. We should continue advocating for these essential services and empowering both patients and healthcare professionals alike.
Tracey Elliott
Advanced Nurse Practitoner (ANP) / Lead Nurse, County Durham
Tracey is an experienced ANP, with a special interest in women’s health, working in GP practice and community gynae clinic in County Durham
Passionate about improving healthcare for women, she combines her work in practice with a commitment to education and development, holding the DFSRH, LOCs in coil and implant fitting and the FSRH Advanced Menopause Certificate.
Tracey is also an academic lecturer at Sunderland university where she wrote and delivers the advanced contraception degree module to nurses and other allied professionals. She also mentors clinicians undertaking further advanced training.
Tracey is a Director of the Primary Care Women’s Health Society and driven by a vision for accessible and high-quality care, is a national speaker working to empower women and clinicians with knowledge and support, advocating for better health outcomes at every stage of life.
Dr Sarah Gray
GPwSI Women's Health, Cornwall
Sarah Gray is a GP who has spent nearly 40 years delivering women’s health in primary care. She has a pragmatic approach developed through working on the clinical front line, but which is underpinned by an extensive knowledge of the evidence base.
She has worked and provided a professional lead role within the rural setting of Cornwall since 1992. She ran a specialist level NHS menopause referral clinic for 15 years until this was decommissioned to save funding costs in 2016. Having retired from the NHS she runs an independent sector GP practice which also provides both women’s health and occupational health at specialist level. She remains closely linked to the system and has been co-opted back to her local LMC.
She has considerable national experience and is one of the two RCGP women’s health representatives. For ten years she had a seat on the British Menopause Society Council and also the guideline development group for NICE CG44 and QS47 (Heavy Menstrual Bleeding). She has been a Faculty Registered Trainer since 1996 and worked with the FSRH on menopause training for over 20 years. She has written several textbook chapters and is regularly asked to comment on national radio.
Dr Toni Hazell
GP, Appraiser, Freelance Medical Writer and Editor, London
Dr Toni Hazell qualified from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School and did her GP training at Northwick Park Hospital; her interest in women’s health started as a GP registrar with what was then known as the family planning diploma. As a newly qualified GP in Tottenham, she did clinical assistant sessions in contraception and sexual health, leading to the diploma in genitourinary medicine and work in an HIV clinic. 20 years later she remains at the same GP practice and enjoys the continuity of care which that brings, as well as the opportunity to teach on women’s health within the practice.
Toni is now a portfolio GP; she is deputy medical director for eLearning at the RCGP and writes CPD for GPs and other healthcare professionals. She is a regular presenter and chair at primary care conferences, online and face to face, and has recently been part of the team which launched Praktiki, a micro-learning app producing CPD which fits into the busy working day of a GP. Toni is also chair of Haringey Local Medical Committee; as part of this role she was involved in negotiations for implant and intrauterine device fitting fees. She is a GP appraiser and is passionate about the type of primary care based education with the PCWHS provides.
Dr Louise Price
GPwSI Gynaecology, Bath
Louise qualified from Bristol University in 2003. She was a specialist trainee in obstetrics and gynaecology before changing career path to become a GP. She has maintained her interest and passion for women’s health and became accredited as ‘GP with Special Interest’ in gynaecology in 2013. She went on to set up a successful community gynaecology clinic in West London where she worked for several years. She is now based in Bath, her portfolio career includes general practice, community and secondary care gynaecology. She is a certified menopause specialist and a director of the Primary Care Women's Health Society.
Dr Lindsey Thomas
GPwSI Women's Health, Sheffield
Lindsey has been a GP in Sheffield for over 20 years now, having trained here and stayed ever since. Since early in her career, Lindsey has enjoyed both women’s and sexual health and working in general practice has allowed her to develop specialist interests in these areas. With the DFSRH, LoC IUT, the FSRH Advanced Diploma in Menopause practice and her place on the British Menopause Society specialist register.
Alongside primary care, Lindsey works in an NHS menopause service in Leeds and she is a registered menopause trainer for both the FSRH and the BMS. Education has been a central part of her career, and she is particularly keen to support other clinicians in developing a special interest in this much needed area.
She is passionate about improving access to women’s health services and believes that primary care is ideally placed to deliver this. With support from women’s health strategy funding, she has recently helped to establish a new community-based menopause and menstrual health clinic in Sheffield and is currently working as the clinical lead.
Lindsey is also an honorary lecturer at the University of Manchester in the Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care.
She really values her role at the PCWHS- especially having the chance to work alongside clinicians she has long admired. The recent changes with re-branding and a new website, have given an opportunity to explore new and engaging ways to deliver education.
Lesley Wylde
Retired - Partnership Development Manager, Women's Health, Tyne and Wear
Lesley has 25 years’ experience working in the field of women’s health, supporting commissioning and provision of women’s health services across primary and secondary care, resulting in an extensive knowledge on the background and changes in the structure of commissioning, funding, training and more recently impact on workforce sustainability. Not wanting to give up her passion to support, develop and improve health services for women, upon retirement Lesley accepted an invitation in April 2020 to join the Primary Care Women’s Health Forum as a director.