Prof Raj Thakkar

PCCS President and CKD representative, Primary care cardiovascular society, GP Primary care cardiology lead, Oxford HIN Honorary Visiting Professor, Cardiff University Medical School, National EAGs for lipids and HF/HVD, NHSE National primary care workstream co-lead - cardiac transformation programme, NHSE UK Clinical Director, Healthy.io and Board observer, British Society of Heart Failure

Raj trained at University College London where he achieved a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and completed his medical degree in 1999. He went on to a GP training programme in the Oxford deanery during which time he completed postgraduate membership exams of both the Royal College of General Practitioners and Physicians. Raj went on to win the national GP enterprise award in his division. He also completed an enhanced GP registrar post in cardiology.  

Raj’s varied roles have included working as a GP partner since 2004, Clinical Commissioning Director in planned care, Cardiac Lead for Thames Valley Strategic Clinical Network, primary care cardiology lead for the Oxford Health Innovation Network (HIN) and atrial fibrillation champion for NHSIQ Thames Valley. He is also on the national expert advisory group for heart failure and valve disease and is currently the national primary care workstream co-lead for the cardiac transformation programme (NHSE). Raj sits on the editorial board for the British Journal of Cardiology.  

Raj has worked as a presenter on BBC Radio and is a medical writer, lecturer, speaker, and advisor. He has written and published over 200 articles and several books including the MIMS consultation guide which won the BMA book of the year award in the category of medicine in 2012. He has achieved two atrial fibrillation pioneer awards, was a national finalist for GP of the year in 2017 and a national HSJ finalist, 2019 for his work in atrial fibrillation. 

Dr Graham Thomas

GP with Special Interest Cardiology and Echocardiography, North Wales and Powys, GP Partner Corwen

Graham qualified as a GP in 1999. He has worked as a GP with Extended Role in Cardiology since 2006 and in Echocardiography since 2009. He has been the clinical lead for Community Cardiology in North Wales and latterly also in Powys - until the present time. His day job is being a GP Partner in Meddygfa Deulu Corwen, South Denbighshire - a mixed, rural practice of 4,000+ patients.

In 2022 Graham was allowed to undertake a 6 month sabbatical which included 2 months working in Lesotho, Southern Africa where he has supported health and community projects since 2001. This also provided the opportunity to help initiate and develop the Community Cardiology Service in Powys.

He is the Wales Cardiovascular Network GP Lead.

Graham enjoys family life and various outdoor sports around his home in Bala - as well as being a chapel elder.

Dr Jonathan Goodfellow

National Clinical Lead, Wales Cardiac Network

Jonathan was born in Pontypridd and was educated at Pontypridd Boys Grammar and Coed-y-lan Comprehensive school. He trained at the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital qualifying in 1985. His cardiology training was in Bristol and Bath before returning to Cardiff to do research, then as Senior Registrar. In 1999 he was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Cardiology at the Wales Heart Research Institute, and also as part-time NHS cardiologist in Bridgend.

In 2005 he became a full-time NHS consultant in Bridgend. He was lead cardiologist between 2005-15 during which time the department expanded significantly to provide a comprehensive echo service, pacing service and diagnostic cardiac catheter lab. In 2008 he was part of the team that won a NHS Wales award for innovations in cardiology out-patient services. He became Medical Director at Princess of Wales Hospital from 2015 to 2018.

He is the immediate past-President of both the Welsh Cardiovascular Society and the Society of Physicians in Wales. He has worked in the Wales Cardiac Network since the end of 2018.

Dr Geraint Jenkins

Consultant Cardiologist, Regional Cardiac Centre, Morriston Hospital

Dr Jenkins is the Lead for Heart Failure at the Tertiary Cardiac Centre in Morriston. He trained in Cambridge, Harefield and Hammersmith and moved to Swansea in 2001. His interests are complex heart failure.

Additionally, he runs a regional pulmonary hypertension service in collaboration with the Hammersmith and is also an interventional cardiologists and on a primary PCI rota. He is co-Chair of the All Wales Heart Failure Advisory Group and was the lead author for the Welsh Heart Failure Guidance in March 2001.

Dr Jim Moore

Past President of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, GP, GPSI Cardiology, Gloucestershire

Dr Moore is a GP in Gloucestershire with a special interest in Cardiovascular Medicine and Past President of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, spearheading significant changes in this organisation. He lectures extensively across the UK.

He has been heavily involved in National CVD advisory groups, guidelines and working parties. He was a member of the NICE Chronic Heart Failure in Adults Guideline committee (2016-2018) and was a board member of British Society for Heart Failure.

Dr Moore has provided cardiovascular clinical support to local commissioning organisations for over two decades and more recently to Cardiac Networks in the South-West. He is currently Clinical Co-Lead (Primary Care) for the West of England Integrated Cardiac Clinical Network.

Dr Moore is the National Clinical Co- Lead (Primary Care) for the National Cardiac Transformation Programme which has included working closely on NHSE initiatives such as Managing Heart Failure @Home and more recently chaired a group that developed the National (NHSE) guidance for the Virtual Ward care for people with heart failure (in publication).

He has been involved in the establishment and subsequent development of the community-based Gloucestershire Heart Failure service since its inception in 2003 where he continues to work as a GPSI.

Dr Chris Arden

GPSI Cardiology, Editor-in-Chief for PCCJ, Winchester, Hampshire

Chris Arden is a GP near Winchester, Hampshire. He also works in community cardiac clinics in Southampton and Winchester as a GPSI in cardiology, assessing patients with suspected heart failure, atrial fibrillation, palpitations, hypertension and valvular heart disease.

The community cardiac service provides echocardiography, ambulatory ECG, blood pressure and event recorder monitoring; receiving consultant mentorship support from secondary care and working in partnership with specialist heart failure and cardiac rehabilitation nursing colleagues.

He does a weekly stress echo clinic at Southampton General Hospital and has BSE accreditation in echocardiography.

Chris Arden is Editor in Chief of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Journal, a member of the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, British Society of Echocardiography, British Society of Heart Failure and British Heart Valve Society. He is on the editorial board of the British Journal of Cardiology.