The Board is made up of the PCB chair, PCB chief officer, chairs of the four primary care discipline sub-boards and additional representatives from each of the four primary care disciplines – community pharmacy, dentistry, general practice and optometry.
Dr Tracey Vell, Chief Officer, Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board
Tracey has worked in general practice for more that 30 years and in the NHS for over 34 years. She has political, digital, business and educational leadership backgrounds.
She persevered to bring primary care providers to the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Devolution programme and was chief officer of the Primary Care Provider Collaborative for NHS Greater Manchester (formerly Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership) from October 2015 until April 2024.
As chief officer for Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board (GMPCB) she developed GP Excellence as a peer-based quality improvement and leadership development academy. She also connected frontline primary care providers to Integrated Care System strategy, as well as running innovative and transformative programmes in all disciplines of primary care.
Until October 2024, Tracey split her time between GMPCB and Health Innovation Manchester (HInM) as their medical director where she built a clinical office to give timely insight to all innovation.
In November 2024, Tracey stepped down from her role at HInM to expand her position as GMPCB chief officer and devote more time to primary care providers amidst the changing landscape of primary care.
Tracey was awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours in 2018 for her work.
Don McGrath, Chair, Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board
Don was appointed to the role of chair of Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board (GMPCB) in August 2026, taking over from Luvjit Kandula after her three years in office.
He is also chair of Greater Manchester Dental Provider Board.
Don is a general dental practitioner with more than 35 years’ experience caring for patients in South Manchester. He joined Manchester Local Dental Committee 25 years ago and has seen many changes impacting both patients and dentists.
As the Greater Manchester representative on the national General Dental Practice Committee, Don endeavours to represent the interests of Greater Manchester area in a robust and constructive way. He strongly believes dentists have a professional responsibility to support patient requirements to achieve what is best for their continuing care, while representing all dental colleagues to achieve the best care possible.
As Chair of GMPCB, Don is committed to working collaboratively with colleagues across all of primary care, the wider NHS, local government, community organisations and, most importantly, with the people and communities of Greater Manchester.
He believes in the importance of championing the vital role of primary care to drive the changes needed to ensure that the citizens of Greater Manchester have access to high-quality, compassionate, equitable and sustainable healthcare.
Luvjit Kandula, Chair, Greater Manchester Community Pharmacy Provider Board
A pharmacist by background and fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Luvjit has a wealth of leadership experience.
Luvjit was chair of Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board (GMPCB) from August 2023 until August 2026, before being appointed to the role of vice-chair after her three years in office. She shares the role of vice-chair with Dr Tim Dalton. As vice-chair, Luvjit is responsible for deputising for the GMPCB chair to support the four discipline-specific boards of dentistry, general practice, pharmacy and optometry to provide a unified voice for primary care in Greater Manchester.
Luvjit also chairs the Greater Manchester Community Pharmacy Provider Board and is Director of Pharmacy Transformation and Chief Officer of Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester.
Luvjit’s previous roles include Head of Local Pharmacy Committee Engagement and Collaboration at Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, Chief Officer of Leicestershire and Rutland Local Pharmaceutical Committee, a secondment to NHS Digital to support digitising medicines and pharmacy, Head of Pharmacy Services at Day Lewis, Head of the Pre-registration Training Programmes at Lloyds Pharmacy, and Chair of Warwickshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee.
Luvjit has extensive experience working as a community pharmacist, having also worked in hospital pharmacy and in industry, both in the UK and abroad. She also has a voluntary role as Community Pharmacy Integration Lead for the Primary Care Pharmacy Association.
Dr Tim Dalton, Chair, Greater Manchester General Practice Provider Board
Tim has been a practising GP in Wigan since 2000. He has extensive leadership experience, having chaired the former Wigan Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for 10 years and co-chairing the Healthier Wigan Locality Board.
Tim has a passion for supporting all parts of general practice. He is committed to driving quality improvement for patients and is a champion for training among his colleagues, having turned his own surgery from a single-handed practice to an award winning, four partner training surgery.
As well as his work at locality level, Tim recognises the importance of representing general practice in the wider context of primary care and on a regional scale, making him ideally positioned for the role of chair of Greater Manchester General Practice Provider Board.
Tim is also vice-chair of Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board (GMPCB), a role which he shares with Luvjit Kandula. As vice-chair, Tim is responsible for deputising for the GMPCB chair to support the four discipline-specific boards of dentistry, general practice, pharmacy and optometry to provide a unified voice for primary care in Greater Manchester.
Julia Maiden, Chair, Greater Manchester Optometry Provider Board
Julia is a practising optometrist at Asda Opticians, Wigan, with more than 25 years’ experience in clinical practice.
She has a strong track record of leadership in Greater Manchester and is chair of Ashton, Wigan and Leigh Local Optical Committee (LOC).
She became chair of the Greater Manchester Optometry Provider Board in May 2026, having previously been the vice-chair. She also oversees the Optometry Excellence workstreams.
As chair of Greater Manchester Optometry Provider Board, Julia aims to continue to drive forward optometry’s integration into neighbourhoods and care transformation work, as well as improve its contribution to the GM Live Well Model.
Dharmesh Patel, Chair, GMPCB Finance and Audit Committee
An optometrist by background, Dharmesh is a member of the Greater Manchester Optometry Provider Board and chair of the Greater Manchester Primary Care Provider Board (GMPCB) Finance and Audit Committee.
He is Chief Executive of Primary Eyecare Services, which is the lead provider of extended eyecare services in Greater Manchester and beyond. He has wide-ranging expertise in service design, procurement, delivery and quality improvement.
Dharmesh has been a primary care system leader since the beginning of Greater Manchester’s devolution, having previously chaired GMPCB from its inception in 2015 until August 2023, as well as chairing the Greater Manchester Optometry Provider until April 2026.
Dharmesh is a Trustee of the disability charity SeeAbility. He remains a member of Greater Manchester East Local Optometry Committee and has previously chaired the Greater Manchester Local Eye Health Network.
Additional voting board members
Community pharmacy
| Louise Gatley | Vice Chair, Greater Manchester Community Pharmacy Provider Board Director of Services, Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester |
| Aneet Kapoor | Chair, Local Professional Network – Pharmacy Board member, Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester |
| Fin McCaul | Vice Chair, Community Pharmacy Greater Manchester |
Dentistry
| Stuart Allan | Secretary, West Pennine Local Dental Committee |
| Martin Longbottom | Vice Chair, Greater Manchester Dentistry Provider Board |
| Jim Rochford | Secretary, Manchester Local Dental Committee |
General practice
| Amir Hannan | Chair, West Pennine Local Medical Committee Chair, Association of Greater Manchester Local Medical Committees Co-Chair, NHS Values Group GP, Haughton Thornley, Hyde |
| Viren Mehta | Vice Chair, Greater Manchester General Practice Provider Board GP Chief Officer, Vaduct Care CIC GP Partner, Cheadle Medical Practice and Alvanley Family Practice |
Optometry
| Matthew Jinkinson | Jinkinson Opticians Chair, Greater Manchester Local Eye Health Network Chair, GM East Local Optical Committee |
| Rebecca Ireland | Chair, Confederation of Greater Manchester Local Optical Committees Clinical Lead, Primary Eyecare Services (PES) Clinical Tutor, University of Manchester |
| Mohammed Bhuta | Vice Chair, Greater Manchester Optometry Provider Board Treasurer, Manchester, Salford and Trafford Local Optical Committee Clinical Tutor, University of Manchester Advancement Lead, Local Optical Committee Support Unit (LOCSU) |
