Our Team
Uttlesford Health is run by GPs who work in the local area and who utilise their local knowledge to develop services to meet the specific healthcare needs of the area.
Dr Katharine Orton
Chair/Acting CEO
Katharine qualified from the University of London in 1978. She has been a GP since she started her training as a registrar in 1982 and works part time as the Senior Partner of Eden Surgeries.
Her particular interests have been in Diabetes Care, Addictions and Service Provision and she has led the GP Section of the Royal Society of Medicine. Katharine joined Uttlesford Health Ltd because she feels that it is necessary for the continuation of the excellent general practice that is currently seen in Uttlesford and wanted to be counted amongst those that have tried to maintain standards of local care for the people of Uttlesford.
Gary Townsend
Operations Director
Gary qualified as Registered Nurse in 1998 and later as a Nurse Practitioner BSc (Hons) ‘Community Specialist practice’ from Anglia Ruskin University.
He has particular interests in minimising unnecessary attendance or admission to hospital and the delivery of care closer to where people live.
Gary was appointed as the Operations Director in March 2017 having over 20 years’ NHS experience working in senior managerial roles across the health economy within Essex. Gary has significant experience in integrated project management, service improvement and operational management, which area central to him supporting the delivery of, and maintaining the highest standards of care provided for the population of Uttlesford.
Clive Emmett
Communications and Voluntary Sector Director
Having served within the Metropolitan and Essex Police services as a Detective for 20 years, I then moved into the Voluntary Community Sector as County Manager of the Essex Home Office initiative Drugs Intervention Programme, I continued to manage similar substance misuse services moving more into the clinical approaches to addiction treatment in London, West Sussex and then again in Essex.
I then acquired a position of Head of Operations with a Youth service that worked with troubled youth in the outdoors. I am currently Chief Officer of the Council for Voluntary Service Uttlesford leading an infrastructure organisation supporting the local Voluntary Community Sector.
I am an appointed Governor of EPUT, and Director of a Social Enterprise Rainbow Rural. I am passionate about the impact the Voluntary Sector has within our communities.
Richard Boyce
Medical Director
Richard trained in Nottingham, graduating in 2006, and has always been passionate about General Practice.
He recently moved to Saffron Walden to be nearer family, and as he lives and uses services in the area, he has a real desire to improve the quality of primary care. Working at Gold Street Surgery Richard is a GP trainer, and is involved in providing weekly ward rounds at two local care homes
Heather McLaughlin
IT Director
Heather started her IT career in the private sector of banking and insurance. After taking a career break to have children she joined the NHS as IT Manager at John Tasker House Surgery in 2003.
Her enthusiasm to use IT to improve and streamline working processes in General Practice while keeping patient care at the centre of everything, led to her joining Uttlesford Heath Ltd in 2016. She believes that Uttlesford Health are ideally placed to play a key role in sharing knowledge and providing support and services to all of their members.
Heather is also a qualified Swimming coach and spends her spare time training swimmers of all ages and abilities up to National level.