The Team

Barbara Mckenzie

Practice Manager to GyneHealth -- Acting Practice Manager to Conceive International

Barbara has over 20 years experience in the secretarial/clerical field. Before joining Mr Nardo she has worked for 8 years in a busy tertiary gynaecology department in central Manchester as senior medical secretary. After working as personal assistant to Mr Nardo for a number of years Barbara moved to management and rapidly became practice manager to two large and very innovative women's health services.

Barbara fosters an excellent relationship with patients and the general public, providing everyone with an immediate contact for any query. As part of her managerial tasks she ensures constantly the focus of the clinic daily work is patient centred and quality driven, striving to provide a highly professional, personal and confidential service. She leads a team of very committed and motivated colleagues.

Sophie Yates

GyneHealth Clinic & Customer Care Coordinator

Sophie has joined Mr Nardo's team after having worked in the medical administrative field within the National Health Service in Greater Manchester.

Sophie is very enthusiastic, approachable and always ensures that patients feel at ease and receive extraordinary attention and care when calling the clinic with queries. She is responsible for coordinating the clinical activities for GyneHealth in Manchester, Cheshire and London.

Annette Eckersley

GyneHealth Education, Research & Development Coordinator

Annette has worked with Mr Nardo since 2007 assisting him with the organisation of several successful educational events and conferences both at national and international level. She has been instrumental in the development of new services and networking research opportunities.

She is the main point of contact for academic activities, research group meetings and training opportunities in IVF, reproductive medicine and surgery for specialist healthcare professionals at any levels, general practitioners and overseas clinical research fellows.

Beverley Loftus

Counsellor

Beverley is a fully qualified counsellor and has been practising for several years in women's health, including reproductive medicine and infertility. Her practice is based on the Person Centred Approach, which offers confidential, emphatic, congruent and non-judgemental support to clients. Beverley has experience in dealing with individuals and couples undergoing infertility management, including conventional assisted conception treatment and use of donated oocytes and sperm.

Suzanna J Blach BSc (Hons) LicAc MBAcC

Acupuncturist

Suzanna is a qualified Traditional Chinese Acupuncturist and is a member of the British Acupuncture Council regulatory body. She has extensive training up to degree level in the Eastern and Western medical sciences. Suzanna and her team of acupuncture practitioners provide specialist treatments to women and couples in Manchester, Cheshire and across the North West.

Acuforhealth developed out of Suzanna's passion for Chinese Medicine and her deep and personal understanding of the complexities of modern life and today's health issues. She developed a special interest in women's health and fertility early on and went on to complete post-graduate training in gynaecology, fertility and obstetric acupuncture. Suzanna and her team now specialises in managing all women's health problems such as PCOS, endometriosis, irregular periods, menstrual problems and unexplained infertility.

Suzanna has great experience in helping couples with long-term fertility problems and those going through IVF and set up The Fertility Specialists Clinic with Naturopath Gabi Heyes offering couples individually tailored treatments and programmes for natural fertility and IVF. Along with Mr Nardo and his team, the practitioners provide the first ever available integrated treatment plans for couples who have diagnosed fertility problems, for those who are going through IVF as well as those planning to start a family.

Suzanna is a member of the AFN (Acupuncture Fertility Network), a professional group for acupuncturists dedicated to supporting those with fertility issues and runs the Northwest IVF Support Team, a group of specialist practitioners dedicated to supporting patients through all stages of IVF.

Pam Bescoby Dip Ac MBAcC

Acupuncturist

Pam is a graduate of the Northern College of Acupuncture and subsequently became part of the teaching team at the clinic there. Further post-graduate training in male and female fertility, gynaecology and obstetric acupuncture led her to specialise in the treatment of a wide range of fertility issues through acupuncture.

Pam went on to become a founder member of the prestigious Zita West Affiliated Acupuncture Network. In 2010, Pam travelled with Zita to China to further enhance her understanding of how acupuncture may improve fertility.
Pam runs the thriving Hale Acupuncture Clinic in Hale Village, Cheshire. Here she has accumulated a vast experience of working with couples experiencing all aspects of fertility and gynaecological issues, particularly using acupuncture to support patients through the many different protocols of an IVF process. She is a firm believer in the positive role acupuncture can play in trying to conceive and ensuring a happy and healthy pregnancy and birth - a belief that so many of her patients would endorse.
Pam's approach has been shaped by the constant feedback and learning from her patients over the years, and she is admired for her unique and sympathetic manner, particularly when dealing with the emotionally and physically demanding IVF process. But, most importantly, she also draws from her own experience as a mother of two sons, and as a woman who has shared in the journey of pregnancy and childbirth.

Pam is a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) and also the Acupuncture for fertility network (AFN).

http://www.hale-acupuncture.co.uk/

Leonie Profit

Acupuncturist

Leonie is a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAC) and trained at the College of Traditional Acupuncture, graduating with a first-class B.A. (Hons) degree. She went on to work at the prestigious Kite clinic in London, one of the UK's leading acupuncture practices specialising in fertility, and now runs her own practice in the City of London.

Leonie treats patients with a variety of conditions, and in particular those with fertility related and gynaecological issues. Following the principles of Classical Five Element Acupuncture, Leonie develops an individual treatment plan for each patient, incorporating lifestyle and nutritional advice, to help restore emotional and physical health.

Sarah Scott MSc BA (Hons) PG Dip Ac MBAcC

Acupuncturist

Sarah qualified in Traditional Chinese Medicine style Acupuncture at the Northern College of Acupuncture in York. She is a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) regulatory body and is affiliated to the Zita West fertility network (the largest integrated reproductive health clinic in the UK), which integrates evidence-based complementary therapies into mainstream fertility and pregnancy care.

Her MSc explored the effects and outcome of acupuncture on a sample of endometriosis sufferers over 4 months: each woman found it to be very beneficial for pain relief as well as improved general and emotional wellbeing.

Sarah has a keen interest and experience in treating women's health and is dedicated to providing clients with an integrated approach to health care (incorporating appropriate nutritional and lifestyle advice), with the view to living a more harmonious, balanced lifestyle and ultimately contributing to a positive therapeutic outcome.

www.sarahscottacupuncture.co.uk

Natural Practices Clinic

Natural Practices Clinic specialises in bringing the body to optimum health for conception by assessing each person individually to determine their specific needs and addressing them using naturopathic and holistic methods.

Gabi Heyes, ND, RCH and Dr Ella Dunbar, PhD, BSc Hons, offer a unique Fertility Screening which incorporates a number of tests for people with unexplained infertility.

The Screening has been developed over a number of years in response to various conditions created by the lack of natural food production and the overuse of hormone-mimicking chemicals found in everyday items. There has been a noticeable escalation of hormonal imbalances in females and sperm irregularities in males.

Hormone related conditions which are addressed include irregular periods, endometriosis, high body mass index, PCOS, peri-menopausal issues, poor sperm quality, low sperm count and erectile dysfunction.

The conditions are investigated from a very different viewpoint to the traditional medical approach. By assessing toxicity levels and the capacity of the body to eliminate toxic by-products and checking the efficacy of the cells to absorb nutrients, we prepare the body to initiate and sustain another life for the next 9 months.

We work closely with couples or individuals who wish to conceive naturally or who require Assisted Reproductive Techniques such as IVF, IUI etc. Our aim is to improve their health so that at the point of conception, by whatever means conception occurs, the body is at its most receptive.

Natural Practices also works in conjunction with Suzanna Blach of Acuforhealth and Mr Luciano Nardo to combine holistic and orthodox medicine in order to assist couples in their desire to have a child of their own.

For more information see www.thefertilityspecialists.co.uk

Celia Butt BSc mBANT

Nutritional Therapist

Celia is a qualified Nutritional Therapist, having obtained her degree in Nutritional Medicine from Thames Valley University in London. Before embarking on her career in nutritional therapy she worked as a senior manager for BUPA Medical Insurance for 15 years. Her interest in nutrition began in the early 1990's when she graduated with honours in Environmental Science from Sussex University.

She is also one of the founders of Precious Health Ltd, where she works with businesses delivering wellbeing programmes to employees and runs a holistic therapy centre in Hale village.

www.precioushealth.org.uk

Karin Elgar PhD Dip ION mBANT NTCC CNHC

Nutritional Therapist

Following a long standing interest in the ways that our physical and mental wellbeing can be affected by the food we eat, Karin completed a three year course at the renowned Institute for Optimum Nutrition, London, from where she graduated in 2004. Karin has since then been practising as a nutritional therapist in the Greater Manchester area and currently runs clinics in Stalybridge, Cheadle and Mossley. Karin has a particular interest in women's health.

Karin is registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) which is recognized by the Department of Health as the voluntary regulatory body for complementary therapists. She is a member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT) where she also serves on the Professional Practice Committee.

In addition to seeing individual clients Karin delivers talks and workshops on healthy eating and more specific nutrition related topics. Karin has also undertaken consultancy work for food manufacturing and catering businesses.

Prior to becoming a nutritional therapist Karin worked in the pharmaceutical and related industries for eight years where she gained extensive medical knowledge. She holds a Masters Degree in Biology and a PhD in Physiology.

www.fitwithfood.co.uk

Mr Suku George MD MRCOG

Consultant Gynaecologist

Mr George is a consultant gynaecologist and the lead for the colposcopy service at the Stockport NHS Foundation Trust. He is a RCOG accredited specialist in laparoscopic surgery, gynaecological ultrasound and has a special interest in the diagnosis and initial management of gynaecological cancer.

He provides comprehensive one stop clinic services for women with gynaecological problems such as menstrual irregularities, post-menopausal bleeding and abnormal cervical smears. Mr George offers laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery for the treatment of ovarian cysts, endometriosis, adhesions and early endometrial cancer. He performs most keyhole surgeries as day case procedures including laparoscopic hysterectomy and removal of ovaries. He has expertise in gynaecological ultrasound and management of early pregnancy problems including keyhole surgery for ectopic pregnancies.

Mr George is a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and other specialist societies such as the British Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE), British Society of Colposcopy (BSCCP) and the American Academy of Gynecological Laparoscopy (AAGL).

Mr Andy Watson FRCOG

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist

Mr Watson has been a Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology since 1998. He originally trained in Leeds where he qualified as a doctor in 1986. He spent a year in New Zealand developing his skills in colposcopy and gynaecological surgery before returning to the North West of England. He is interested in gynaecological endocrinology and has a very evidence based practice. He has a regular NHS infertility clinic where his special interests include the management of polycystic ovary syndrome, tubal issues and the use of Lipiodol flushing for unexplained infertility. This is an evidence based treatment where a solution is washed into the uterus in the management of certain causes of infertility.

Mr Watson is accredited by the BSCCP to undertake colposcopy investigations and procedures associated with the management of abnormal cervical smears. In his NHS practice he is heavily involved with training of junior doctors with regional responsibilities and also at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. One of these roles is to be responsible within the region for the training of doctors in hysteroscopic (keyhole surgery) techniques for the management of period problems and infertility.

Mr Effi Eyong FRCOG

Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist

Effi Eyong is a Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport. He has a special interest in reproductive medicine and established a Fertility Unit at Stepping Hill Hospital soon after he was appointed consultant. In 2006 the Fertility Unit was awarded a license by the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA) for the treatment of suitable couples by induction of ovulation and intrauterine insemination (IUI) in secondary care.

Effi also has special interests in gynaecological endoscopic surgery, colposcopy, menopause and acute obstetric perineal trauma.

Karen Woodcock

Fertility & IVF Nurse Consultant -- North West Fertility Manchester

Karen is an experienced and enthusiastic nurse consultant who has worked in the field of reproductive medicine, fertility and IVF since 1991. She is the manager of the Fertility and Assisted Conception Unit at the Countess of Chester NHS Hospital and works as a nurse consultant for the private IVF service North West Fertility in both Manchester and Chester. She is responsible for the day-to-day clinical coordination of the treatment cycles providing an individualised, friendly and accessible point of contact for all clients embarking on assisted conception treatment.

Karen is currently the elected nurse representative on the British Fertility Society executive committee, and is the lead for pelvic ultrasound training on behalf of the society. She is actively involved in promoting education and quality training to fertility professionals in the UK, and she is a recognised preceptor.

She has been involved regionally in the commissioning of the local fertility service provision and has long promoted an active management of fertility problems to help individuals and couples achieve a pregnancy.

Mr Finlay Curran

Consultant General Surgeon

Mr Curran is a Consultant General Surgeon in Manchester. He specialises in colorectal surgery and has significant experience in laparoscopic surgery for the management of advanced endometriosis infiltrating the lower tract of the bowel.

Mr Vijay K. Sangar BSc MB ChB MD FRCS (Urol)

Consultant Urologist

Mr Sangar is an accredited Consultant Urological Surgeon providing expert comprehensive unbiased urological care. He trained in Manchester, London and Strasbourg. He currently practises as a Consultant Urologist across South Manchester, in addition to holding a post as Honorary Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester.

Mr Sangar specialises in Penile conditions, especially cancer, being one of the Lead Clinicians for the North West. He has an interest in penile surgery which includes some reconstructive work and an element of sexual dysfunction. This has led to a clinical interest in male factor infertility including 'loupes assisted' vasectomy reversal, which allows for better surgical precision, offering greater potential for success.

Mr Sangar is active in research, having published in scientific journals and presented award winning research internationally. He is a member of the European Association of Urology, the International Society of Sexual Medicine, the National Cancer Research Institute, the British Association of Urological Surgeons, the Society of Expert Witnesses and The New York Academy of Sciences.

Clinical Interests
• Penile and Scrotal Lesions (including cancer)
• Male factor infertility and Erectile dysfunction
• Bladder Cancer
• Prostate -- BPH and Cancer
• Laparoscopic renal cancer surgery
• Therapeutic technology development

For further information see: www.manchester-urology.org

Dr Simon Campbell

Consultant in Gastroenterology

Dr Campbell qualified from Birmingham University in 1994 as was subsequently offered an MD fellowship in Edinburgh undertaking research into immunomodulator therapy in IBD patients.

In 2004 he achieved ad advanced endoscopy fellowship at Royal Liverpool University Hospital where he trained in endomucosal resection, colonoscopy as well as running the capsule endoscopy service.

He trained both in Edinburgh and the Oxford regions and was appointed to Manchester Royal Infirmary in October 2006 as a consultant gastroenterologist.
Dr Campbell's specialties focus on luminal gastroenterology and pharmacotherapy for IBD (including the latest biological therapy) encompassing all upper gastrointestinal complaints, coeliac disease, IBS, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease as well as diagnosis and management of colon cancer.
In addition to this, he has advanced endoscopy training which broadens the scope of techniques that can be performed. These include complex polypectomy, colonoscopic surveillance and argon plasma coagulation therapy.

Dr Campbell continues with capsule endoscopy provided at the Alexandra Hospital. He has published original research and articles in more than 30 international journals, published books and chapters in the field of inflammatory bowel disease. He is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary and an honorary senior lecturer at Salford University and honorary lecturer at Manchester University. He is the scientific advisor to NACC North West (National association of Crohn's and Colitis).

Dr Preye Andrew Zuokumor

Consultant in Anaesthesia

I have been a Consultant Anaesthetist with the Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust (CMFT), Manchester, UK since 2005. I graduated from University College Hospital, Ibadan in Nigeria, West Africa in 1985 and trained in anaesthetics in 3 different continents, namely Nigeria (Africa), UK and USA. My research interest is in the area of obstetric anaesthesia and difficult airway management.
My routine anaesthetic work involves provision of anaesthesia for gynaecological surgery, major head and neck procedures, orthopaedics and obstetric.

Dr Daniel Conway MB ChB FRCA

Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care

Daniel Conway qualified in Manchester and after spending time travelling in Asia, embarked on a career as an Anaesthetist with a special interest in Intensive Care. As a registrar, Daniel led a randomised controlled trial of fluid optimisation guided by the oesophageal Doppler (ODM) during bowel surgery. This work demonstrated the usefulness of the oesophageal Doppler and was published in Anaesthesia in 2002. Daniel leads the National Technology Adoption Centre Project into implementing ODM across the UK www.howtowhyto.nhs.uk

Dr Conway was appointed to a consultant post at Central Manchester NHS Foundation Trust in 2001 and has specialised in anaesthesia for fertility services. Dr Conway was the Anaesthetic Equipment lead at Manchester Royal Infirmary completing two major capital projects introducing new anaesthetic machines and monitoring for anaesthesia and Intensive Care.

Daniel is the Meetings Secretary for the Association of North Western Intensive Care Units www.anwicu.org.uk and is involved in the undergraduate clinical skills curriculum, currently holding an honorary lecturer post at Manchester University.

Dr Shashi Rawal

Consultant in Anaesthesia

Dr Rawal trained in Anaesthetics in Manchester & Leeds area and has been in active Consultant Anaesthetic practice since 1982 covering a wide range of specialities including Gynaecology.

Dr Rawal practises at the Alexandra Hospital, the Regency Hospital, Spire Manchester, Bridgewater and Oaklands Hospital.

Her main interest is providing good quality anaesthetic care. Most patients are very anxious preoperatively and she always does her best to reassure them and allay their anxieties as she has personal experience of having had an anaesthetic herself. Dr Rawal is vigilant and careful and makes sure that the patients don't have any sickness or pain after the operation.

She has looked after female patients having gynaecological operations for many years, and she understands their fears and empathises with them.

Dr Amar Karmarker

Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management

He graduated in 1995 and underwent anaesthetic training in Yorkshire and Manchester. He obtained the FRCA in 2006 and subsequently completed a fellowship in pain management prior to his appointment as a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management.

His NHS practice is based at Fairfield General Hospital, Bury and consults at the Alexandra Hospital, Cheadle and Highfield Hospital, Rochdale.

Clinical Interests
• Pelvic pain
• Back pain
• Neuropathic pain
• Migraine
• Complex regional pain syndrome