Dr Rizwan Maniar

The scale of the disaster in Kashmir in October 2005 motivated me to join an international relief effort through Merlin which a UK based International NGO.

I spent three weeks in Panjkot near Pakistan – India border, where I helped set up a field hospital. In 2006 I went to Jogjakarta in Java Indonesia after another earthquake and volcanic eruption. In Jogjakarta, in addition to working in the hospital I prepared a report for the local hospital in streamlining patient care. One of the main lessons, I learned from my experience was the gain from a little planning beforehand. Problems can be mitigated by building up the resilience of the population. This prevents an emergency from becoming a disaster. When I saw the commitment of the members of UK MAP I accepted their offer to become a Trustee of fellow.

Working in the NHS for almost 25 years, I have experience of working in Acute Care as a Consultant Anaesthetist and previously a Clinical Director of Peri-operative and Intensive Care Services. I still work as an anaesthetist and presently also am a Secondary Care Board Member for two large North London Clinical Commissioning Groups. Along with the Clinical Directors and other Board members, I am involved in the commissioning of health care services for a combined population of around 600,000 in London. I am keen to utilise my Health Care Management experience from Cambridge University where I was awarded the Prima Vera prize in Health Care (Not for Profit) sector.