Tuesday 16th February 2021
Heart Valve Voice is pleased to announce that former Clinical Director for Heart Disease for NHS England, Professor Huon Gray, has joined our team in an advisory role and has agreed to act as Chair of the new Heart Valve Voice Clinical Advisory Panel.
Professor Gray is was appointed Consultant Adult and Interventional Cardiologist to Southampton University Hospital in 1989. He was President of the British Cardiac Society (2003-2005) and clinical adviser to NICE on acute coronary syndromes (2007-2010). He was Deputy and then Interim National Clinical Director for Heart Disease at the Department of Health (2007-2012), before taking the role on permanently from 2013 until he retired in 2020.
Professor Gray has supported Heart Valve Voice since 2018, including work on the development of the ‘Towards a Heart-Healthy Future: A Gold Standard in the Diagnosis, Treatment and Management of Heart Valve Disease in Adults.’
Professor Gray said “Thank you to Heart Valve Voice for asking me to join the team and Chair this important group of experts in the cardiovascular field. I have seen the crucial work Heart Valve Voice do both as National Clinical Director of Heart Disease and during the development of the Gold Standard of Care. I’m pleased to offer my support and guidance, and together with the Advisory Panel support Heart Valve Voice in improving the detection, diagnosis and treatment of heart valve disease.”
The new Heart Valve Voice Clinical Advisory Panel, is made up of leading clinicians from across the treatment pathway and will be a platform to discuss heart valve disease at a national level and support Heart Valve Voice on reports, guidelines and policy work.
The Advisory Group members will be:
- - Professor Nick Curzen, Consultant Cardiologist and President of British Intervention Society (BCIS)
- - Mr Ranjit Deshpande, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Chairman of British And Irish Minimally Invasive Surgery
- - Mr Simon Kendall, Adult Cardiac Surgeon and President of the Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery.
- - Professor Simon Ray, Consultant Cardiologist and President of British Cardiovascular Society.
- - Keith Pearce, Chief Cardiac Physiologist, Immediate Past President
- - Dr Benoy Shah, Consultant Cardiologist and President of British Heart Valve Society.
- - Dr Jim Moore, GP and President of Primary Care Cardiovascular Society.
The group met for the first time on Wednesday, December 15th, where they discussed what the priorities of the group should be in 2021, including Primary Care Networks, Community Diagnostic Hubs, Cardiovascular Leads and the group’s relationship with the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Heart Valve Disease.
Professor Simon Ray said “This is an important step for heart valve disease care, and it comes at a critical time. I look forward to working with the Panel to enhance the development of Community Diagnostic Hubs, looking at issues surrounding finance, workforce and integration into pathways. Wednesday’s discussion was vibrant and informative, and I look forward to our next meeting and future work together.”