Our team pride themselves in delivering outstanding NHS medical care. If you’re looking for a GP surgery which values personal care and continuity then look no further.
“Helping you to Better Health”
GPs
Dr Reshmi Salam – GP Partner
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Salam is a Yorkshire lass who moved up to the North East in 2000. She qualified as a GP in 2011. She is a GP trainer with an interest in medical education, children’s and women’s health.
Dr Helen Coundon – GP Partner
(F)
Dr Coundon is supervising many learners at the practice and therefore has limited clinics.
Dr Coundon’s clinical interests and skills are in coil and contraception implant fitting, women’s health, GP training and teaching, mental health issues and therapeutics and medication.
Dr Coundon enjoys yoga and tap dancing in her spare time. She also loves walks in the countryside of Northumberland and County Durham.
Dr Sarah Hartley – GP Partner
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at Bridge Medical
Dr Hartley qualified in 1997, she was originally from North West of England but lived and worked in the North East since 1997. She enjoys cycling, baking and family time. Her clinical interests are skin, musculoskeletal problems and women’s health.
Dr Hartley provides joint injections (knee, shoulder, base of thumb and trigger finger) and undertakes minor surgery for the practice.
Dr Hannah Tomlin
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Tomlin has worked as a salaried GP at the practice since 2013 and has recently become a partner. She is originally from the South East; she completed her undergraduate training in Liverpool before moving to the North East to complete her GP training. Her clinical interests include child health, mental health, women’s health, and dermatology. When not working she is busy swimming and running, crafting, gardening, baking, and reading, not to mention looking after 2 young children.
Dr Jennifer Rickard
(F)
Appointment availability: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Rickard qualified as a doctor in 2009 and has worked at a number of hospitals in the region since then. After qualifying as a GP, she initially spent several years working in palliative care alongside general practice. Her interests include palliative care, managing long term illness, psychological problems and teaching.
In her free time Dr Rickard loves to bake.
Dr Victoria Bastain
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday , Tuesday, Thursday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Bastain’s interests include women’s health (coil and contraceptive implant fitting), palliative care, minor surgery, joint injections and teaching.
Dr Bastain enjoys exercise and spending time outdoors with her family in her spare time.
Dr Fran Timson
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Timson qualified as a GP in 2014 but has also gained experience working in palliative care in the past few years. Her interests include palliative care and elderly care, but also the whole variety in General Practice. Outside work, she enjoys running, baking and going to the beach!
Dr Andy Roberts
(M)
Appointment availability: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at Bridge Medical
Dr Roberts graduated from Liverpool University 1994. His clinical interests include supporting people with mental health problems, palliative care and the wide variety of issues which present to GPs.
Dr Roberts likes to sing and go wild camping.
Dr Richard Arthur
(M)
Appointment availability: Thursday, Friday at Bridge Medical
Dr Arthur studied medicine at Warwick, and his clinical interests include palliative care and men’s health.
Dr Arthur loves the outdoors: climbing, surfing and hiking.
Dr Rosie Head
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at Bridge Medical
Dr Head graduated from Newcastle university. She is a mum to two boys, in her spare time she likes being outdoors and generally being active.
Clinical interests include child health and palliative care.
Dr David Cummins
(M)
Appointment availability: Monday at Bridge Medical
Dr Cummins studied medicine in Brighton. He moved to the North East and qualified as a GP in 2020. He has an interest in Public Health, lifestyle medicine and medical education. Outside of work he loves running in the mountains and cycling.
Dr Miranda Abery – GP ST1
(F)
Appointment availability: Wednesday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Abery is in her first year of GP training, having worked as a doctor for 4 years since graduating in 2019. She came across from Belfast for medical school in Newcastle and has stayed ever since.
She loves cooking, hill walking and cycling in her free time.
Dr Michelle Goh – GP ST3
(F)
Appointment availability: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr. Goh is currently in her third year of General Practice (GP) training and has been practicing as a doctor since graduating in 2018. Alongside her medical career, she harbours a deep passion for travelling.
Dr Sarah Picker – Foundation Year 2 Doctor
(F)
Appointment availability: Wednesday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Dr Picker graduated from Newcastle University in 2022. She has a keen interest in orthopaedics and child health.
Dr Picker enjoys running, the beach and spending time with her friends and family.
Dr Tom Kay – GP ST1
(M)
Appointment availability: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday at Bridge Medical
Dr Kay is originally from Whitley Bay and lived here until moving to Yorkshire for university. He returned to the area after 6 years in Leeds and now lives in Newcastle. He is a keen cyclist particularly when the ride is followed up with a coffee and cake.
Dr Rohit Mukherjee – Foundation Year 2 Doctor
(M)
Appointment availability: Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at Bridge Medical
Other Healthcare Professionals
Adam Wanstall (M)
Physician Associate
Appointment availability: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Adam is a Physician Associate from Durham. He studied Biomedical Sciences in Northumbria University, studied Physician Associate Studies in The University of Manchester, and has been qualified as a Physician Associate since October of 2020. Adam is currently seeing patients about headaches, abdominal pain, infections, joint/muscle pains, and mental health concerns.
Physician associates are medical generalists who work as part of the medical team to examine, diagnose, and treat patients with a variety of conditions. Physician associates are not doctors but are trained in medical school to work as part of the medical team, and work closely with a supervising GP in primary care as dependent clinical practitioners.
In his spare time, he enjoys singing, surfing, and bird watching.
Sam Thomas (M)
Paramedic
Appointment availability: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Sam Thomas qualified as a Paramedic from Teesside University in 2018, he has over 3 years experience working on emergency ambulances, before moving into a urgent treatment centre, where he treated patients with acute minor illnesses and injuries. He has now joined Monkseaton Medical Centre, where he wishes to gain more experience and progress his career by completing his masters degree in Advanced clinical practice and also his independent prescribing course. Sam can currently see patients with acute illnesses e.g. chest infection, UTI’s, etc. Paramedic’s are able to assess, diagnose, and treat or refer patients with a variety of conditions independently. He works closely with supervising GP’s and other medical staff.
In his spare time he enjoys going to the gym, running and watching football.
Susannah Shaw (F)
Paramedic
Appointment availability: Susannah is currently on maternity leave and will return to work in January 2025
Susannah qualified in 2016 as a Paramedic from Sheffield Hallam University having worked for the ambulance service since 2013. She worked for both Yorkshire and the North East Ambulance Service as a road paramedic and mentor. Susannah moved into primary care at the start of 2022, responding daily to house calls on behalf of GPs for four separate surgeries.
Susannah joined Monkseaton Medical to gain experience and knowledge within the primary care setting, with the aim to complete the independent prescribing qualification in the near future. She will be assisting the practice with both clinics and home visits under the supervision of GP and other healthcare colleagues.
In her spare time Susannah enjoys paddle boarding, hiking with the dog and running.
Beth Houghton (F)
Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Coordinator
Appointment availability: Tuesday, Wednesday at Monkseaton Medical Centre, Friday at Bridge Medical
Beth has worked at Monkseaton Medical Centre for 9 years starting as a receptionist, then working as a secretary and is now one of our Mental Health and Learning Disabilities coordinators. Beth studied a masters in Psychology and has also completed a counselling skills qualification.
Beth is enjoying being a new mum and taking her son on long walks.
Eve Morton (F)
Mental Health & Learning Disabilities Coordinator
Appointment availability: Monday at Bridge Medical, Tuesday, Thursday at Monkseaton Medical Centre
Eve is originally from East Yorkshire but moved to Newcastle in 2013 to study psychology at Northumbria University. She has been a part of our administration team for the past year, and she is now undertaking a counselling qualification to support her in her new role.
In her time outside of work she loves all things performing arts, as well as getting outside in the sun!
Nursing Team
The Nursing Team at Monkseaton Medical Centre consists of:
Laura Doris
Practice Nurse
Lisa Watson
Practice Nurse
Jennifer Renney
Health Care Assistant
Angela Auld
Health Care Assistant
Andrea Edgar
Health Care Assistant
Between them, the Nursing Team can help with almost anything.
The Doctors often pass their patients over to our team after diagnosis of things like hypertension for ongoing care, medication management, and lifestyle advice. If you suddenly develop a high blood pressure you will find yourself under their management and being put through your paces.
Our Health Care Assistants and are not qualified nurses. They are the blood takers in the practice and look after most of our patients requiring dressings. They take routine blood pressures, take part in Health Checks and annual reviews. They also assist the GPs and the other members of the nursing team.
Pharmacy Team
John Sherwood
Pharmacist
Eliza Hughes
Pharmacist
Alaa Daraji
Pharmacist
Michelle Collins
Pharmacy Technician
Our Pharmacy team are responsible for all patient medication reviews. They look at any changes in medication on behalf of our doctors.
The practice works closely with Whitley Bay Primary Care Network who employ clinicians in various roles for the Whitley Bay area. We currently have a compliment of clinical staff working part-time within the surgery to enable us to deliver excellent care to our patients, including physiotherapists, pharmacists, mental health coordinators and frailty nurses.
GP Net Earnings Computation
NHS England require that the net earnings of doctors engaged in the practice is publicised, and the required disclosure is shown below. However it should be noted that the prescribed method for calculating earnings is potentially misleading because it takes no account of how much time doctors spend working in the practice, and should not be used to form any judgement about GP earnings, nor to make any comparison with any other practice.
All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.
The average pay for GPs working in this practice in the last full financial year was £70,330 before Tax and National insurance. This is for zero full time GPs, 10 part time GPs and zero locum GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.