Advertisement Feature: Meet the dedicated doctors making women’s health a priority
Welcome to the Women’s Wellness Clinic, where menopause specialists and highly- experienced GPS Dr Reem Al-Shaikh and Dr Gillian Shields offer help and support with hormonal health, vitality and longevity
Who we are
We have been dedicated team mates for so long now. We were together during the Covid pandemic, we worked late into the evenings to cover the winter Strep A outbreak and now we are navigating the challenges of the struggling NHS to try to get our patients the best possible care. We are also both working mums navigating the challenges of juggling life stress, whilst enjoying the simple pleasures of a new pair of shoes or what we are doing for our next holiday. We are the women we consult and we are each other’s support.
Why we launched Women’s Wellness Clinic
We have always loved being women’s health GPs. Within our NHS practice, Gill is women’s health lead and Reem a GP trainer and educator. Through years of hard work, extra qualifications and experience we have gotten older (and we like to think wiser) and have become experts. We are dedicated to making women’s health a priority not only within our practice but within the NHS as a whole. We decided to launch Women’s Wellness Clinic as an addition to what we already do to offer our listening ears and years of experience to those that might need it.
Our services
We’ve tried to create what women may need with the luxury of easier access and longer appointments. From an initial 60-minute consultation (either face-to-face or virtual) to bloods or scans if required (and more importantly the ability to interpret and action them) to coil fittings and prescriptions. The advantage of our general practice knowledge is that we can approach every woman as a whole. We can give honest advice on lifestyle, diet, exercise, individual medical history as well as the latest fad in the media to more hormone specific expert recommendations.
Menopause support
Every recommendation we make is based on years of learning and most importantly evidence-based care. Our robust training came from the British Menopause Society,
along with our wonderful trainer Mr Gerald Hackett who admirably gave up his time every week for nearly 2 years (for free!) to make sure we were worthy of the FSRH advance menopause accreditations and national expert Dr Imogen Shaw who subsequently mentored us. We’ve been privileged to learn everything we know from real women and the most exceptional teachers.
A unique approach
Our clinic offers the whole package, so if you want see us face to face you can, if you want to talk about your blood pressure and cholesterol as well as your hormone health, you can. If you have a funny rash on your leg you want to show us whilst you’re with us, you can. We are holistic whole health doctors who have the broad experience that every specialist needs.
Why we chose clinic locations in Bishop’s Stortford and Cambridge
Last year when Gill had her annual appraisal with a Bishop’s Stortford GP, she mentioned how difficult it was to get specialist menopause care for her local patients. Gill is local to Bishop’s Stortford, so who better to serve than her own community of women? Dr Liz White, from Harley Clinical Psychology, eagerly welcomed us and her rooms are central and calm so perfect for women to discuss their health in a relaxing environment.
We also wanted to be accessible to Suffolk and Cambridge to offer the whole women’s health journey, where we could perform medical procedures such as coil and implant fitting. The icing on the cake was when renowned plastic surgeon, Mr Tariq Ahmed, and his team at Cambridge Clear Beauty trusted us to work alongside them in their state-of-the-art CQC-rated medical facility. We see patients for consultations at both locations.
How it’s going
We have absolutely loved launching our new clinic. It’s been wonderful to hear suggestions and feedback from women on what they really want and have the flexibility to adapt our clinic to work around what’s right for them. It’s been a refreshing change and given both of us a new determination to keep advocating for women in a way we believe it should and can be done.
Women’s Wellness Clinic is based in Sawston and Bishop’s Stortford. Find out more at womenswellnessclinic.co.uk
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