Our team
Doctors – partners and GPs
Dr Napa Gopikrishnan
M.B., B.S., F.R.C.S (Ed); 1990 Madras
Dr Gopikrishnan is an FRCS (Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons) and has a special interest in teaching, ENT (ear, nose and throat), orthopaedics and joint injections. Dr Gopikrishnan is the buildings lead for the Practice.
Outside of the Practice he works in Whitby Community Hospital and does out-of-hours sessions.
Dr Becky Chandler
MB, ChB, MRCGP, DFSRH; 2003 Liverpool
Dr Chandler qualified in Liverpool in 2003 and gradually made her way to Whitby, via Australia, in June 2014. She loves living by the coast and when not at work, you may see Becky out running, walking her dog or trying to keep up with her children.
Dr Tara Hazledine
MB, ChB, DCH, nMRCGP; 2000 Edinburgh
Dr Hazledine has a special interest in teaching, paediatrics, women’s health and palliative care. She is an FY2 trainer and teaches the 4th year HYMS medical students. Outside of the Practice she works as a hospice doctor at St Catherine’s Hospice in Scarborough and until recently worked for the CCG as a Macmillan GP. Tara loves spending quality time outdoors with her family.
Dr David Hilson
MB, BS; 2011 York
Dr Hilson has an interest in palliative care and covers the local hospice in Scarborough on a number of weekends. He also works as an out of hours doctor in Whitby.
Studying medicine was a second career. His first degree was in Marine Geography. He led adventure tours for a number of years in a wide range of areas including Cuba, Libya, Pakistan and Peru. His favourite areas to work were Jordan and Costa Rica.
He was consistently asked when he was going to get a ‘real job’. In 2005 he started his medical degree at Hull York Medical School. He loved Yorkshire and stayed in the area after graduation, moving to Whitby as it was half way between his job at Scarborough Hospital and his wife’s in Middlesbrough. Having fallen for Whitby, Dave was delighted to become a partner at Whitby Group Practice in 2015.
Dr Carolyn Fisher
MB, ChB, FPC; 1983 Manchester
Dr Fisher is a salaried GP; she has a special interest in teaching, family planning, IT, women’s health and psychiatry.
Carolyn loves the beautiful village she lives in, with its true sense of community.
Dr Anne Zhao
MBChB (Leeds 2012), BSc (Hons)
Dr Zhao was born in North Wales. She moved to Yorkshire in 2006 for University and has lived here ever since. She qualified from the University of Leeds and moved to Scarborough in 2014, where she completed her GP training. She loves living by the coast and joined Whitby Group Practice after previously working in a practice in Scarborough.
Dr M. Hilson
MBBS 2011 Hull York Medical School, DFSRH.
Dr Maddy Hilson is a salaried GP. She has worked at WGP since 2019. She has a special interest in women’s health and is passionate about menopause care, having taken additional menopause training by the FSRH. She offers an NHS menopause clinic through our extended hours service, currently with appointments every Thursday evening and occasional Tuesdays evenings/Saturdays mornings. She fits coils and contraceptive implants within the surgery.
She has previously worked around North Yorkshire and the North East. She lives locally with her husband (also a GP at Whitby Group) and their children.
Dr Akinloye Joseph Olawamide
MB ChB, MRCGP; 2011 (Ife)
Dr Olawamide qualified from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in 2011. He moved to the Scarborough area in 2019 to complete his GP training. He enjoys living and working along the beautiful North Yorkshire coast.
Dr. Joseph Ojoh
MBBS 2013, MRCGP 2023
Dr. Joseph Ojoh qualified from the University of Jos. Joseph loves playing football and has an interest in training GP trainees.
Nurse practitioner and AHPs
Our Nurse Practitioner, Maxine Atkinson, and Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Maddie Butler and Anna Newham, are fully trained to diagnose, treat and advise on, they can see patients for all manor of conditions however they cannot see patients for except complex physical/mental health problems.
Clinical Pharmacists
Joanne Lambert
Joanne works for the Primary Care Network and is based at Whitby Group Practice, and Egton practices.
We are also supported by Pharmacy Technician Damian Chrapek and Rachel Cowey who work for the Primary Care Network and are based at Whitby Group Practice.
Pharmacists are highly trained health professionals, having completed a four-year university degree and worked for a year under supervision.
Nursing team
5 Practice Nurses (RNs)
1 Diabetes Specialist Nurse
1 Clinical Support Worker
5 Healthcare Assistants (HCAs)
Our team of Practice Nurses and Healthcare Assistants are available from 8.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday. Later appointments can be arranged for certain clinics and through Better Access; please ask one of our receptionists.
Practice Nurse run clinics are run by appointment in the nurse consulting rooms as follows:
- Diabetic clinic
- Asthma clinic
- COPD clinic
- Hypertension clinic
- Coronary heart disease clinic
- Treatment monitoring clinic
- Cervical smear clinic
- Family planning clinic including insertion and removal of subcutaneous contraception and coils
- Immunisation clinic
- Foreign travel advice and immunisation
- Leg ulcer treatment clinic
- Stroke clinic
- Sexual health clinic – chlamydia screening, condom distribution and contraception advice
Our Healthcare Team also offer:
- New patient health checks
- NHS health checks on patients aged 40-74 with no pre-existing conditions
- Advice about healthy eating
- Weight management
- Drug monitoring
We also have an Outreach Service, and a Research Team.
District Nurses and Health Visitors are attached to the Practice.
Midwives are accessible through Whitby Community Hospital.
GP registrars, junior doctors and medical students
Training practice
We are proud to be a well-established training practice. We often have medical students and trainee doctors working in the practice. You may have an appointment at the surgery or receive a home visit from them. There is a good explanation of GP training on the BMA website.
GP registrars
Fully qualified doctors, known as GP registrars (or Specialty Trainees/GPST), complete the final stages of their general practitioner training. The doctors are usually with us for between six to 12 months, becoming an integral part of the practice team and an invaluable resource for patients.
You may be offered an appointment with a GP registrar should your own doctor not be available. Please treat them as one of our team. All GP registrar work is supervised by a partner.
Feedback from patients regarding our GP registrars has been overwhelmingly positive. We believe that achieving and maintaining training practice status enhances the quality of the medical care that we provide. It also enables patients to see a wider range of clinicians, whilst allowing the practice to benefit from the fresh ideas and approaches brought by young enthusiastic doctors.
You can of course still elect to see your regular doctor.
Foundation year two doctors
We also train junior doctors in the second year of their postgraduate training. This is called Foundation Year Two (FY2). They will be attached to the practice for four months as part of a rotation of posts they undertake based in local hospitals. Some of them plan to train to be GPs but many will go on to training in another speciality such as surgery or paediatrics. They will work under the supervision of a partner at all times.
Medical students
Patients may also meet medical students in the surgery or accompanying the doctor on their calls. Students from Hull York Medical School spend time with us during years 4 and 5 of their five years at university. It is very useful for them to gain experience meeting patients in the practice and at home. It helps them understand the impact of illness on peoples’ lives far better than they can achieve in hospitals. They are not qualified doctors and cannot prescribe. All their work with patients is supervised closely.
Video recordings
A very important part of the training of doctors is to use videotaped recordings of consultations to assess the doctor’s competence and to help them develop their consultation skills. Video recordings of consultations are used for assessment and may be viewed outside the practice by assessors who do not know the doctor or the patient.
Every consultation that is video-recorded is done with informed consent. We will ensure you understand beforehand that the recording is being made, the purposes for which it will be used, who will see it and how long it will remain in existence. You have the right to refuse. The tape is only seen by doctors and is erased as soon as the educational activity has been done. If you change your mind after a consultation the tape will be erased immediately. No physical examinations are filmed. We are very grateful for our patients co-operating with this activity.
If you do not wish to be seen by a medical student or trainee doctor please inform the receptionist.
Management and support staff
Our non-clinical team
Whitby Group Practice employs management and support staff to ensure the smooth running of the Practice. Staffing covers both sites, Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay, with many of the team working part time, achieving a great work life balance.
Practice Manager: Bekki Shone
Head of Operations: Ness Dixon
Head Premises, Patient Liaison & HR Administration: Mandy Clarkson
5 receptionists
4 medical secretaries
3 records clerks
1 summariser
1 senior dispenser
5 dispensers
6 housekeeping staff