Dr Gillian Orrow

About

Dr Orrow graduated from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ school of medicine in 2006. She was an NIHR academic clinical fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Public Health between 2008 and 2012, during which time she undertook research in the area of prevention, acquired an MPhil in primary care research with distinction, trained as a GP and taught at Cambridge medical school. Since then she has continued her involvement in medical education and acted as advisor to NICE Public Health Advisory Committees alongside her clinical work as a GP in Surrey.

Her passion for health equity and supporting the flourishing of people, places and planet led her to found an action learning set on this topic for Surrey GPs and other health professionals. Out of this learning set and concomitant conversations in communities, a new initiative called Growing Health Together was born:  a place-based approach to prevention and health creation, informed by ecological design principles. Gillian is both the founding director for the initiative, and the lead for this work within Healthy Horley Primary Care Network. Growing Health Together was commissioned by NHS Surrey Heartlands at the end of 2020 and is now embedded across East Surrey Place. A two-year evaluation of the work is underway, funded by NIHR ARC-Kent, Surrey and Sussex.