A NEW chair has been appointed to the Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is responsible for buying-in healthcare for the Isle of Wight.
Dr Michele Legg will take over the role from Dr John Rivers, who finishes his term on March 31 this year.
Dr Legg is a GP at Tower House, Ryde, and currently the dementia/older people CCG clinical lead.
She will work with Dr Rivers until the end of March to provide a smooth transition and will continue her GP responsibilities in parallel with her new role, the CCG said.
She grew up on the Island and studied at University College London (UCL) and Middlesex Medical School.
She began her medical career as a hospital doctor on the mainland and in 2004, returned to the Isle of Wight with her family to live and work as a GP.
She is involved in all aspects of healthcare with strong ties with the voluntary sector. She has a special interest in dementia and older people’s health and championed many initiatives including developing Ryde as a dementia friendly town.
She lives with her partner, also a GP, and their two teenage boys. She said: "Being chair of the CCG, I will be able to take an active role in developing excellent health care for Islanders."
Dr Rivers said: "Michele has been working on the Island as a GP for 13 years and has been clinical lead for the CCG since 2011 giving her a good understanding of patient needs and awareness of the health care challenges of the Island."
Helen Shields, Isle of Wight CCG chief officer and the whole of the CCG team thanked Dr Rivers who has recently retired as an Island GP and has been involved in many areas of health care development including diabetes services and GP out of hours services and is deputy chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board and chair of the My Life a Full Life Board.
The appointment comes at a time when the NHS on the Island has been struggling to cope with demand and plans to overhaul how services are provided.