2026 BSACP Conference | Speakers' Bios

Michael Nevill

Michael Nevill MSc RN is a senior healthcare leader and Registered Nurse with over 20 years of experience in nursing and healthcare management, specialising in abortion care services. He has held multiple executive roles in leading reproductive health organisations, including Director of Nursing and Director of Client Experience at BPAS, and currently serves as Clinical Director at NUPAS. His work has been pivotal in shaping clinical strategy, safeguarding practices, and client engagement within abortion services across the UK.

Michael is a Council Member of the British Society of Abortion Care Providers (BSACP), a professional advisor to NICE, and a member of the RCN Women’s Health Forum Steering Committee. He has led initiatives on quality improvement, infection prevention, and clinical service provision in abortion care, and was commended by the Royal College of Nursing for his advocacy in the decriminalisation of abortion. A published researcher and frequent speaker at national and international conferences, Michael continues to influence policy and practice in abortion care.

Namita Kumar

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Professor Namita Kumar, MBChB, MD, MMEd, FRCP, FAcadMEd, Postgraduate Dean, Consultant Rheumatologist. Involvement in medical education started when Namita was a doctor in training. In 2003, Namita was appointed to the board of the Postgraduate Medical and Education Training Board, the first UK regulator of Postgraduate Medical Education. In 2010, she was appointed as Foundation School director for Northern Deanery, in 2013 to the post of Postgraduate dean for HEE NE and in 2019, Regional Postgraduate Dean for HEE North East and Yorkshire. She was made an Honorary Clinical Professor by Durham University in 2014, Newcastle and Sunderland Universities, and UCLAN in 2017. She was a council member of the Academy of Medical Educators from 2014 to 2017, and a Councillor and then Trustee Councillor of the Royal College of Physicians from 2017 to 2022. She was appointed as a trustee for NCEPOD in January 2022 and has chaired English Postgraduate Deans since 2020. She is also the co-chair of the DEMEC organising committee. Namita was appointed to the new role of NHSE National Dean for Delivery of PGMDE Risk and Business Oversight in Dec 2023.

Zara Haider

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Dr Zara Haider, CoSRH President, is a Consultant in Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, working at the Wolverton Centre, Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust.

She took up this consultant post in October 2012, after completing subspecialty training at the Margaret Pyke Centre and spending a year as a UCL Darzi Fellow.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr Haider has previously served on the council of the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (CoSRH) as Vice President Membership and Workforce, and has held roles including Chair of its Events Committee, CSRH Training Programme Director for London and KSS, and she is an Educational Supervisor. Professionally, she holds qualifications including FCSRH, FRCOG, Diploma in Genitourinary Medicine (Dip GUM), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership in Healthcare.

Stephen O’Brien

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Dr Stephen O’Brien is a Consultant Obstetrician with an interest in Foetal Medicine. He completed his specialist training in the West of England, including a PhD in operative vaginal birth and intra-partum in trials methodology at the University of Bristol.

His interests include the diagnosis and management of foetal abnormalities, placenta accreta spectrum disease, women at risk of preterm birth, operative vaginal birth and the provision of abortion care to all women who need it. He is a clinical member of the South West Placenta Accreta Network and is the national co-ordinator for training in operative vaginal birth for the RCOG. He is also the Lead Clinician for the South West Complex Termination of Pregnancy Network.

Kim Raynsford

Aimee Taylor

Rebecca French

Kate Whitehouse

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Dr Katherine (Kate) Whitehouse is an American-trained doctor, double board-certified in Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Complex Family Planning. She has over a decade of expertise in abortion care and sexual health research (SRH) as an academic clinician, Medical Officer at the WHO, and working in independent sector abortion care in Britain. She has authored many peer-reviewed publications on SRH and contributed to national and international guideline development in the US, UK and globally. She is an editor for the European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care and an Evidence Advisor at the British Society of Abortion Care Providers (BSACP). She is passionate about improving women’s lives through high-quality medical care, research & healthcare policy. While she always takes an evidence-based approach, Kate aims to put her patients’ needs at the centre of everything she does. Currently, she works as an abortion provider at MSI Reproductive Choices and NUPAS and also a freelance researcher and medical advisor in FemTech.

ORCID

John Reynolds-Wright

John Reynolds-Wright is a CSO/NES Clinical Lecturer in Sexual and Reproductive Health.

He is one of the Evidence Advisors at BSACP and is the first person to complete the new FSRH Abortion Care Specialist Modules.

Jenny Hughes

A woman smiles while standing beside a NUPAS banner displaying information on pregnancy advisory services and patient testimonials.

Jenny Hughes is the lead sonographer at NUPAS and an experienced HCPC-registered advanced practitioner. She has worked across both the NHS and the independent sector, specialising in obstetric, gynaecological, and early pregnancy ultrasound.

Jenny is passionate about improving reproductive healthcare services and ensuring women have access to safe, high-quality, evidence-based care. Her presentation, “To Scan or Not to Scan Prior to Early Medical Abortion”, explores the evolving role of ultrasound in abortion care, examining the balance between clinical evidence, patient safety, accessibility, and patient-centred care.

Deirdre Duffy

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Dr Deirdre Duffy is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Lancaster University with a focus on global social inequalities. Her work concentrates on inequalities in access to abortion and barriers and facilitators to care in restrictive and legally permissive health systems.