Who We Are
Clinical Practice Advisory Group
The purpose of our Clinical Practice Advisory Group is to provide Education for Health with professional advice and support, enabling us to check the accuracy and relevance of our education, training, and service support.
It enables us to learn about any emerging clinical issues that would benefit our learners and alumni. It also helps ensure that we continue to provide leading edge education and training, ensuring health care professionals have access to current best practice and emerging developments.
We are indebted to members for their ongoing patronage.
Dr Robert Angus
Group Chairman
Robert is Chairman of Education for Health, and a Consultant Physician at University Hospital Aintree specialising in Respiratory Disease. He has a range of expertise but has a particular interest in Asthma Management and champions this within the North West of England.
Robert is passionate about respiratory care and improving outcomes for respiratory patients. He has been instrumental in numerous respiratory services being developed including for example, ACTRITE, an early supported discharge scheme and the NIV unit within the hospital.
He has been involved in the development and review of various guidelines to support practice both nationally and internationally.
Prof Hilary Pinnock
Hilary is Professor of Primary Care Respiratory Medicine, University of Edinburgh and a family doctor in Whitstable, Kent. She leads programmes of work in the Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research and the RESPIRE NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Respiratory Health.
Her research interests include the delivery of care within the ‘real-life’ primary care setting including implementing supported self-management for asthma, telehealthcare for monitoring respiratory disease, talking therapies to help people with COPD and depression, supportive care for people with severe COPD.
She is Head of Assembly 1 of the European Respiratory Society, and actively involved with the International Primary Care Respiratory Group and the UK Primary Care Respiratory Society. She is a member of the BTS/SIGN British asthma Guideline Development Group, and an associate editor of npjPrimary Care Respiratory Medicine.
Dr Dan Wootton
Dan is an academic physician, a father or three girls, a mountain climber and collector of Jazz vinyl. He studied Medicine at Sheffield University and has subsequently worked in Sheffield, Malawi and Liverpool.
Dan works on respiratory tract infections and he holds an NIHR Advanced Fellowship to study Hospital Acquired Pneumonia and Clinical trials. His PhD was funded by an NIHR Doctoral Fellowship to study recovery from Community Acquired pneumonia.
Dan is a Senior Fellow in Infection at the Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences at the University of Liverpool and conducts clinical sessions as an Honorary Consultant Respiratory Physician at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Prof Rob Horne
Rob is Professor of Behavioural Medicine at University College London. His research focuses on the role of psychological and behavioural factors in explaining variation in response to treatment.
Rob trained in pharmacy and health psychology. A key theme in his research is the understanding of patient and public perspectives of illness and treatment and how this can be applied to help get the best from essential treatments for the benefit of individuals and society. His work has resulted in internationally applied tools and guidelines for supporting adherence to treatment and improving patient care.
He has over 250 peer-reviewed publications (>31,000 citations H-index 81) supported by grants of over £30 million (£4.9 million as Principal Investigator) in the last decade. He is a Fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. He is founding Director of Spoonful of Sugar Ltd, a UCL Business company providing consultancy focused on implementing his research into practice.
Allwin Mercer
Allwin is a Nurse practitioner from Berkshire with over 30 years experience, she has an interest in the self management of long term conditions in Primary care and supporting her peers. She studied her undergraduate Nursing degree at the University of Glasgow and her Masters in Advanced practice at the University of Reading.
Alongside her clinical career she was the Board nurse for North West Reading CCG, Clinical Nurse lead for Berkshire West CCG and a Clinical lead for the Berkshire West CCG Long Term Conditions board, Care & Support planning project and Medicine Optimisation committee. A founder member of ‘Diabetes Sans frontier’ a group set up to redesign the provision of Diabetes care across Berkshire West. More recently she was the General Practice Nurse Education lead for the Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire and Berkshire CCGS Training Hubs.
Allwin is a keen Cyclist and is currently training for her first Ironman.
Ruth Amartey
Ruth is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner working in East London. She has 40 years nursing experience, with over 30 years in Primary Care. She trained at St Georges Hospital London, completed her non-medical prescribing at City University and a PgDip in Diabetes at Leicester University. She has a special interest in Long Term conditions in Primary Care and is an active member of the local Diabetes Board.
Her passion for nurse education started 20 years ago with the forming of the Waltham Forest Practice Nurse forum. This has continued with her role as Clinical Nurse Lead for Education for Waltham Forest Training Hub. She is a member of the North East London GPN Leadership board representing Waltham Forest. She became a Queens Nurse in 2020.
Outside of clinical work, Ruth enjoys walking and cruising when the opportunity arises.