Practice Team

Doctors

Dr Alison Vassallo (f)
GP Partner

I qualified from St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London in 1991 working in London, Cardiff and Australia before moving to Bristol and becoming a partner at The Lennard Surgery in 2000.

I enjoy the breadth of general practice and the ability to get to know our patients and their families over time. I enjoy passing on that enthusiasm to our qualified doctor GPs in training having been a GP Trainer since 2004, as well as the medical students who rotate through the practice. (They appreciate so much the opportunity our patients give to help them with their studies).

Away from work I enjoy skiing, travel and trying to drag my two children outside for a good walk.

Dr Nicola Flemming (f)
GP Partner

I have worked at the Lennard Surgery since 2006. I first joined the practice as a salaried GP and I became a partner in 2015.

My professional interests: Contraception/sexual health and fitting of contraception implants.

Musculoskeletal medicine - I have a Masters degree in Sport and Exercise medicine and do a number of joint injections.

Medical Student teaching - We are a core training practice within Bristol and I oversee the medical student teaching.

I am also the CQC registered manager for the practice and the prescribing lead.

Outside of work I enjoy walking, travel and spending time with my family with camping weekends away in our camper van.

Dr Hugh Davies (m)
Partner

I am originally from the New Forest, but graduated from the University of Bristol Medical School in 2004, qualifying as a GP in 2008. I trained and then worked briefly in the Gloucester area, before returning to Bristol. I am married to a GP and have 3 children. My interests mainly involve the great outdoors – camping, hiking, cycling – and fortunately my family seem to like this too!

My interests in medicine are in Musculoskeletal Disorders including soft tissue and joint injections, Care of The Elderly medicine and Men’s Health, although my love of General Practice comes through connecting with people from all different backgrounds, no matter what is brought through the door.

Dr Helen Mutch (f)
Partner

I have worked at the surgery for many years, first as a trainee and as a GP partner since 1990.

Looking after the whole family and having continuity of care for our patients have always been central to the way we work. I have a broad interest in all aspects of general practice and family medicine. I am currently the practice lead for Alcohol and Substance Misuse, Learning Disabilities and Safeguarding Children.

Outside the practice, I am one of the lead GPs for Safeguarding Children for all practices across the BNSSG CCG, helping to train other GPs and taking part in case reviews when safeguarding incidents have occurred.

Matthew Hartley (m)
Salaried GP

I qualified from Bristol in 2014, and I have never left – I’m delighted to call this brilliant city my home. I’ve been at The Lennard Surgery since July 2020, after working in Bath for a few years. I enjoy the variety that each day at work brings in general practice.

Professional interests: Palliative Care, Lifestyle Medicine & Mens Health

Outside of work you might see me out walking my dog or running – I’m usually training for a marathon (fingers crossed they come back soon). I’m an enthusiastic but terrible gardener, with a small and unruly allotment – feel free to pass on any words of wisdom or top tips you might have!

Dr Amanda Ross (f)
Salaried GP

I have worked at the surgery since 1996 and have enjoyed the continuity of care of many of our patients and their families since that time.

I have a special interest in contraception and coil fittings and removals and am happy to advise on menopause symptoms and HRT too.

Outside of work we have 3 teenagers so my husband and I often feel like an Uber drivers!
I also care for my elderly parents who have dementia so life is busy !
I enjoy walks in the country and coffee with friends and running in the woods to relax .

Dr Hannah Richmond (f)
Salaried GP

I have been a GP in Bristol since 2003. I joined the Lennard Surgery in 2020. I enjoy the varied nature of work in general practice and have interests in diabetes, palliative medicine and women’s health.

On the days I am not in the practice I work in medical education – I am the Associate Dean for the GP training programme in Gloucestershire and support doctors in training who will become GPs in the future.

Outside of work I am a keen singer, both in a chorus and quartet so there is always plenty of practice to be done, much to the delight of my teenage children!

Nursing Team

The team is made up of 2 Practice Nurses , 1 Trainee Nurse Associate and 2 Health Care Assistants.

Management Team

Charlotte Tearney
Practice Manager

Rebecca Timmis
Practice Manager

Our Other Teams

Administration & Medicines Management Team

There are many members of staff behind the scenes that you may not be aware of.

Our administration team are responsible for handling various administrative duties such as:

• Scanning and summarising of paperwork for new and existing patients.

• Contacting other healthcare professionals and requesting discharge summaries and results.

• Booking and facilitating more complex GP reviews for example Mental Health and Learning Disabilities.

• Sending NHS and private referrals to different hospitals and departments and dealing with referral rejections and queries.

• Arranging travel vaccination appointments and ordering in the vaccinations that are needed.

• Registering new patients and managing deduction requests.

• Monitoring internal and external communications.

• Organising post-natal checks and first baby immunisations.

• Dealing with private work requests such as medical reports that are requested by insurance companies and solicitors. We also prepare patients records if requested by the patient.

• Managing and organising health screening appointments such as cervical smear tests and bowel screenings.

Within the team we also have prescription clerks whose job it is to produce the large numbers of repeat prescriptions we issue every day. Deal with patient prescription queries and liaise with local pharmacies,

Care Navigation Team

Our care navigators are an important link for patients with the practice and are your first point of contact. They will assist you with general queries and direct you to the right person depending on your health issue or query. To do this, they will need to ask you for further details in order to assess how best they can help you. Please help them to help you. All of our surgery staff will respect your privacy and are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the doctors and nurses.

Our current team at The Lennard Surgery consists of two Team Leaders and 8 Care- Navigators.

Pharmacist

We have a Practice based Pharmacist called Anil who can do medication reviews, Asthma Clinics, Hypertension Clinics, structured medication reviews and also answer any prescription/medication queries.

The Lennard Surgery is now part of the Community Referral Scheme. We can refer you to a pharmacist of your choice who can deal with a range of minor illnesses.

Physiotherapist

Pete is the First Contact Practitioner (FCP) who is an experienced physiotherapist who has advanced skills necessary to assess, diagnose and recommend appropriate treatment or a referral for musculoskeletal (MSK) problems on a patients first contact with healthcare services.

Pete qualified in 1995 from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. He completed his Masters degree with Distinction in 2008. He has worked in several Clinical Specialist roles and published original spinal research with 45 global citations. He also works in his own private practice in Bristol.

Mental Health Practitioner

Kate is our appointed Mental Health Practitioner. Kate joined the practice in December 2023.

Teaching and Training

We are a core teaching practice for the University of Bristol Medical School. We teach undergraduate medical students from all 5 years of the course. The first years come for an introduction to general practice. We teach examination skills and clinical consultation skills to second, third and fourth years. Fifth year students come to us to gain experience of seeing patients independently, so they learn, under supervision, to make diagnoses and plan treatment.

Qualified doctors join us for postgraduate training. Newly qualified (foundation doctors) spend 3 months with us to get experience of general practice while they gain consulting skills and make their career choices. Specialist Trainees in General Practice come to us for longer, between 6 months and 2 years. These are doctors who have several years’ experience in hospital medicine who are training for a career in General Practice. They work independently in the surgery with supervision and teaching from our team of experienced GP trainers.