Skip to main content

Nursing & Pharmacy team

Mrs Lesley Avery 

Treatment Room Nurse

Lesley works 3 days a week in the treatment room treating patients with a range of conditions and is skilled in undertaking blood pressure readings, phlebotomy, dressings, adult immunisations, smear tests and ECGs.

Ms Charlie Rooney 

Treatment Room Nurse

Charlie joined us in 2024 and works on Thursdays and Fridays. She has worked in general practice since 2019 and will be undertakes the full range of treatment room nursing procedures.

Mrs Helen Spence

Practice Nurse specialising in Diabetes

We are delighted to confirm that, since joining us last year, Helen has successfully undertaken the practice nurse diploma. She is now able to undertake the full range of treatment room procedures and is extending her working days to Monday to Friday.

Mrs Neethu Thomas

Treatment Room Nurse

Mrs Mariam Allen

Practice Matron

Mariam works 4 days a week. She is able to consult and prescribe to all age groups and will form part of our daily duty team, working closely with the GPs, nurses and community colleagues. She has a special interest in respiratory conditions, for which she will have dedicated clinics once she has settled in with us.

Mrs Sarah Blanchard

Practice matron and treatment room lead nurse

Sarah joined us in 2021 and has since undertaken the minor illness diploma and independent prescriber qualifications. She is an integral part of our practice matron and complex matron team and works on Wednesday and Friday. She consults and treats patients with a range of conditions, working closely with the GPs, other nurses and matrons in the practice, as well as our community colleagues. More recently, Sarah has been appointed as lead nurse for the treatment room.

Mrs Sarah Cross

Practice matron

Sarah joined us late last year and works closely with the GPs and other nurses and Matrons in the practice, as well as liaising with our community and social care colleagues making good use of skills from her former employment with the Community Nursing Team. She plans some further study in the next few months on the treatment of Minor Illness; meantime she concentrates on visiting those too unwell to get to the surgery.

Mrs Allie Jackson

Practice and complex care matron

Allie works 4 days a week, alongside the duty doctors. She is able to consult and prescribe as necessary to all age groups from babies to our older patients. She works closely with the GPs and other nurses and matrons in the practice, as well as liaising with our community and social care colleagues. She has a special interest in respiratory conditions and runs some dedicated clinics for this on Tuesdays.

Ms Penny Kestel

Practice and complex care matron

Penny also works 4 days a week with our duty team and can consult and prescribe as necessary to all age groups from babies to our older patients. She works closely with the GPs and other nurses and matrons in the practice, as well as liaising with our community and social care colleagues. She is currently undertaking some additional studies as an advanced clinical practitioner and also has a special interest in respiratory conditions.

Mrs Debbie McMillan

Practice matron

Debbie also joined us last year and works 4 days a week alongside the GPs and other nurses and Matrons in the practice, as well as liaising with our community and social care colleagues. Like Sarah C, Debbie previously worked with the Community Nursing Team and plans some further study in the next few months on the treatment of Minor Illness; meantime she concentrates on visiting those too unwell to get to the surgery.

Healthcare assistants

Mrs Karen Puddifoot

Healthcare assistant

Karen joined our team in the summer of 2015 having previously worked with the community nursing team. She undertakes phlebotomy, blood pressures and annual BP reviews, ECGs, vitamin B12 injections, NHS health checks and flu immunisation. She also acts as a chaperone when a patient or doctor requests one.

Mrs Sam Greany

Healthcare assistant

Sam joined our team in 2019 having also previously worked with the community nurses. She undertakes phlebotomy, blood pressure and annual BP reviews, ECGS, dressings, diabetic foot checks and ear syringing. She also acts as a chaperone when a patient or doctor requests one.

Mrs Mandy Gurney

Healthcare assistant

Mandy joined our team in 2023 and undertakes phlebotomy, blood pressure and annual BP reviews, some adult immunisations, ECGS, dressings, diabetic foot checks and ear syringing. She also acts as a chaperone when a patient or doctor requests one.

Phlebotomy

Mrs Nicky Coombes

Phlebotomist

Nicky has been a part of our reception team for some time but has undertaken additional training and now also supports our clinical team. Nicky will offer blood test appointments 2 mornings a week.

Clinical Pharmacists

Ms Clara Alonso Malpartida

Clinical Pharmacist

Clara has been working at Bassett Road Surgery since 2016. She is a clinical pharmacist and independent prescriber. She also works part time as an Education Supervisor at Manchester University, CPPE ( Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education), helping other pharmacists who are training to work in primary care. 

Mrs Bina Varsani

Clinical pharmacist

Bina joined us in September 2024 having previously worked in Community Pharmacy. Working Wednesday to Friday, she liaises closely with Clara, our GPs, and other prescribing health care professionals. She also works with the pharmacists employed by the other 2 surgeries in our Primary Care Network, as well as those who work for the Network itself. She will shortly be supporting Bina as she undertakes her Independent Prescriber qualification.

Mr Dylan Patel

Clinical Pharmacist for Patient Safety

Dylan joined us in early 2026 and normally works 5 days a week. He has prior experience in community pharmacy and an additional 4 years in primary care. During his time in primary care, he gained his independent prescribing qualification and supported in various local and national quality improvement opportunities (e.g. polypharmacy, reducing over-reliance of SABA and implementation of MART and identification and management of chronic kidney disease). Within his role at the surgery, Dylan works closely with colleagues (both clinical and non-clinical) to enhance and build on patient safety processes and develop new processes going forward to enable continuous improvement in this area.

Page published: 5 May 2023
Last updated: 28 August 2026