Dr Alka Chandrayan
General Practitioner (GP)
Herts Urgent Care (HUC)
The Journey
Alka’s path in primary care began as a Senior Managing Partner and Women’s Health Lead at a local surgery. In 2021, she moved to a new role at Larksfield Surgery and Arlesey Medical Practice, where she completed her five yearly GP revalidation and gained exceptional patient feedback.
Building on her extensive experience in previous roles, Alka was able to focus her passion for women’s health by the developing a women’s health hub. During her time at Larksfield and Arlesey, Alka recognised that there were gaps for women’s health provision around long waiting times and accessing services for coil and implant fittings. In addition Alka wanted to address the training needs of her nurse and GP colleagues and deliver education and training sessions.
Despite facing personal and organisational challenges, Alka has continued to provide informal clinical discussions and training to her peers. The CARE programme entered Alka’s life when she needed it the most, inspiring her to move forward with her goals, and helping her build a network of support for her professional development.
“CARE helped me keep my faith strong in everything that NHS Primary Care stands for.”
The CARE programme has had a significant impact on the direction of Alka’s clinical career by increasing her confidence and opening her up to new opportunities whilst continuing to support her colleagues and patients.
With this newfound confidence Alka continues to work as a GP Locum but has also been able to take up two great opportunities – being a coach mentor for NHS professionals and taking up a role as a Trustee & Member of the Board for HertsAbility Charity (under the National Organisation “Driving Mobility”). The Charity does an amazing work and Alka is hoping to offer her humble help to open the doorways for increasing public awareness about the work that the team does for Independent Living with Assisted Driving and more. In addition Alka is currently working towards completing her training as a GP Appraiser.
“I am incredibly proud of the portfolios I have built, and I cannot thank CARE enough for supporting my journey.”
The Impact
- Increased confidence in pursuing other career opportunities
- Increased understanding of ‘self’ and her skills and attributes in supporting patients and staff
- A greater awareness of opportunities to influence the wider community aspects of the current training pathway for GPs
- She has accepted the invitation from one of the GP Training Programme Coordinators to come and be the observer and contribute where needed
- The learning from CARE has reignited and further strengthened her self-belief
