Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Networks (GMEC SCNs) were established in April 2016 to provide clinical leadership and advice to improve health and care services.

The clinical leads listed below play an important role in this achieving this aim, working with our support teams to create and implement changes.

Led by a director and a clinical director, with strong involvement from patients, carers and members of the public, the SCNs connect commissioners, providers and professionals across condition/disease pathways of care to develop best practice and innovation, measure and benchmark quality and outcomes and drive quality improvement.

Clinical director

Dr Peter Elton

Peter was in public health for many years and a director of public health for 18 years and was regional lead for offender health. He was a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.  He has a long-standing interest in smoking, having set up a smoking cessation service in North Manchester in 1984 and was the Greater Manchester public health lead on smoking. He has had management experience, having been director of community services in North Manchester for seven years. He has chaired Outreach Community and Residential Services (for people with learning disability or chronic mental health) and has had more than 50 papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

Cardiovascular Network

Professor Farzin Fath-Ordoubadi

Professor Fath-Ordoubadi is a consultant interventional cardiologist, based at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. He did his medical school training at St. Mary’s Hospital, London, and Cambridge University, and his cardiology training at Hammersmith, St. Marys and Brompton Hospital. This clinical lead role adds to existing roles of clinical director of Manchester Heart Centre (CMFT) and British Cardiac Society/Royal College of Physicians Network advisor.

Cardiovascular Prevention

Dr Aseem Mishra

Dr Aseem Mishra is an academic GP at Bowland Medical Practice, Wythenshawe.

He works at the intersection of healthcare, technology and human behaviour, using health informatics, systems thinking and behavioural science to deliver real-world change. Through the Greater Manchester CVD Prevention programme, he has led initiatives including the CVNeed analytics approach, Greater Manchester’s cardiovascular clinical guidelines, the System Transformational Fund, and primary care incentive schemes.

Children and Young People Network

Easwari Kothandaraman

Dr Kothandaraman is the clinical lead for the Children and Young People Network.

Diabetes Network

Dr Naresh Kanumilli

A GP in Northenden Group Practice and Clinical Lead for Diabetes in the SCN. Naresh is involved in a number of pieces of work that include a Diabetes Prevention Programme aiming to address prevention on three levels: onset; progression and complications. Specific outputs to achieve this ambition will be the formulation of Care Plans for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and also the development of a Patient Care Plan that can be adapted and personalised.

Maternity Network

Ghazia Saleemi

Dr Saleemi is obstetric clinical lead for our maternity neonatal safety improvement programme. She was appointed as a consultant at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester in 2016 and is now labour ward lead. She has a special interest in pre-term labour and set up this service at Wythenshawe.  She also has a specialist interest in multiple pregnancies and runs specialist clinics and also sees other high-risk pregnancies in her obstetric clinic.

Greater Manchester Local Maternity and Neonatal System

Dr Akila Anbazhagan

Dr Anbazhagan is a consultant obstetrician at St Mary’s Hospital, Wythenshawe, and worked as a consultant in Belfast for 3 years before moving to Wythenshawe hospital in 2015.

Neurorehabilitation and Integrated Stroke Delivery Network

Dr Shivakumar Krishnamoorthy (clinical director)

Dr Krishnamoorthy has clinically led the network for the past four years and is a senior stroke consultant at Stepping Hill Hospital. He has extensive experience of working in acute and hyper acute stroke care and was previously an associate medical director at Stockport NHS FT. 

Susan Bannister (community clinical lead)

Susan joined the network in April 2026 and will share the role with Stuart. She heads up the Bolton Long Term Conditions Service and is also a Physiotherapist with significant experience in stroke and neurorehabilitation services. She was previously our Clinical Associate for Workforce Development.

Stuart McDarby (community clinical lead)

Stuart was appointed as our Community Clinical Lead in February 2026, working half a day a week for the network is Co-Lead of the Bury Community Stroke & Neurorehabilitation Team and an experienced specialist Physiotherapist, having worked in inpatient and community services.

Palliative and End of Life Care Network

Dr Dave Waterman

Dr Dave Waterman is the SCN Clinical Lead for Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire. He is a Consultant Physician in Palliative Medicine working within Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Stockport Community and St Ann’s Hospice since 2005. He graduated at Newcastle University in 1995 and undertook specialist training in Palliative Medicine in the North West Deanery.

His clinical role allows the delivery of specialist palliative care to patients and their families in their own homes, as well as within an out-patient environment or an in-patients setting, either within Stockport NHS Foundation Trust or St. Ann’s Hospice.

Dr Liam Hosie – Palliative and end of life care GP primary care lead

Dr Hosie is the GP primary care lead. He graduated from Manchester University in 2000 and has been a GP partner in Wigan since 2004. He is also Wigan’s clinical lead for cancer and end of life care, and joined the SCNs in 2018. His interest in palliative care has developed from being lead GP in his own surgery for palliative care, to then becoming involved in a variety of local projects. His practice covers an area of considerable deprivation, and also has a large number of nursing and care homes, and as a result is often involved in day to day management of palliative cases.

Respiratory Network

Dr Jennifer Hoyle

Dr Hoyle is a Consultant Respiratory Physician and Occupational Lung Disease Lead at Pennine Acute NHS Trust, based at North Manchester General Hospital. She has run a busy Occupational Lung Disease department there since 2004, is a member of GORDS UK (Group of Occupational Respiratory Disease Specialists) and the British Thoracic Society SAG. Dr Hoyle is an Honorary Lecturer at Manchester University and is a member of the SWORD Committee there. Dr Hoyle has numerous publications in Occupational Lung Disease including Interstitial Occupational Diseases. Jennifer has been the Clinical Lead for Respiratory at the Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire Strategic Clinical Network since June 2018.

Dr Murugesan Raja – Clinical lead for respiratory disease in primary care

Dr Murugesan Raja became our clinical advisor in June 2018. He is a General Practitioner with a special interest in respiratory medicine. Dr Raja works as the Lead GP for Hope Citadel at John Street Medical Practice, and Hawthorne Medical Centre. He has been the Clinical Lead for Respiratory Medicine for Central Manchester CCG since 2014 and in 2017 the role became citywide. He is currently also Clinical Lead for Quality and Performance and a GP Governing Board Member (Central) for Manchester Health and Care Commissioning. His other roles include GP Trainer, Speaker, Member of Health and Wellbeing Board for Manchester and on the GP Reference Panel for National Institute of Clinical Excellence.