Dr Richard Ma has been appointed to the Board of Trustees at The Sussex Beacon.
With more than 20 years of experience as a GP and working in sexual and reproductive health practice, Dr Ma is also a researcher at Imperial College London. His work includes publishing research on experiences of people living with HIV (PLWH) in general practice.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Ma said “I am very interested in improving the care and experience of people living with HIV. I have a number of people living with HIV on my practice list, so I am aware first hand of the specific challenges they face daily, navigating the health and social care systems. Highly effective anti-retroviral treatment and good access to HIV care have meant the majority of PLWH are now well and have similar life expectancies compared with those not living with HIV. The challenge now is managing other conditions that develop as people grow older; these include heart disease, cancer, and other ailments due to advancing years.
“I am delighted to join The Sussex Beacon as a Trustee. I hope I can use my clinical and research experience to benefit the charity”, he added.
Jayne Phoenix, Chair of Trustees said “We are very pleased to welcome Richard as a Trustee. His experience will further strengthen what is a highly skilled and committed group of Trustees”.
In addition to his work as a Trustee, Dr Ma is a keen runner and at the Brighton Half Marathon 2020 he proudly wore the Team Beacon colours, finishing with an impressive time 1 hour 58 minutes.
