Dr Helen Horton

Helen is a GP and Head of Admissions, Recruitment and Outreach for Pears Cumbria School of Medicine.  She graduated from Nottingham Medical School in 2002 with a BMedSci BMBS qualification.  She moved to Cumbria for her House Officer (Resident Doctor) jobs in 2002 for 6 months, then returned in 2003 and has worked in North Cumbria since then, in both the Hospital Trusts and General Practice around the area.

She is a GP Partner in Distington Surgery, in West Cumbria where she has worked for the last 17 years, having been a partner for the last 15 years.  In addition to her GP and PCSM role, Helen is a Clinical Lead with North East North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (having previously been with Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group since 2015) working within the North Cumbria Local Delivery Team and particularly at the interface between Primary and Secondary Care.

Helen has been a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners since 2008 and was made a Fellow in 2024.   She gained an MSc in Medical Leadership (with distinction) through Lancaster University in 2023 and through the same course gained a Senior Leader Level 7 Apprenticeship (with distinction) through the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

From an education perspective, Helen has been a GP trainer in North Cumbria since 2014 and she also now helps support the training of new GP trainers and her practice has a strong educational ethos, taking medical and nursing students each year from the surrounding universities.