Meet the Team

GP Partner since 2001

Enjoys all aspects of General Practice but especially interested in Diabetes and Cardiology.

Prescribing Lead.

Dr Nirshanthan Nagarajah GP Partner
BSc, MBBS, MRCGP, MRCP, AFHEA, PGCert

Dr Nagarajah’s passion for being a doctor started in his primary school days which continued onto secondary school. He obtained his medical degree from Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ Medical School in 2002.

During his years in hospital training, he has worked in cardiology, gastroenterology, intensive care, nephrology, geriatrics, oncology, haematology, neurology at hospitals including UCH, Addenbrookes, London Chest and Queens. During this time, he decided to become a GP following in the footsteps of his father.

Initially a Salaried GP for 10 months in Romford; he moved to Ware in 2010 where he has been a Partner since, and leads on multiple clinical and non-clinical areas.

In 2013 he became a Senior Clinical Tutor for the Clinical School at the University of Cambridge which involves teaching year 4 and 5 medical students both within the practice and at the university, and in 2023 he became Assistant Director of GP studies there where he manages both the course and year 5 students.

He lives in Hertfordshire with his wife and 2 children. He is passionate about all kinds of music and plays the violin, piano, Carnatic violin and Miruthangam including having performed multiple times on stage. He also has interests in electronics, computing, finance, movies and cars.

Dr Sims’s interested in medicine started from a young due to her father having a chronic neurodegenerative condition.

She qualified from Southampton University in 2010 with her medical degree and honours in BSc Biomedical sciences in 2009.

She undertook her Foundation training in Winchester doing rotations in Gastroenterology, Orthopaedics, General medicine and A and E. She moved to Leeds for GP training including rotations in ENT, Stroke medicine, Obstetrics and Gynaecology and further experience in A and E.

Once completing her GP training Dr Sims started as a salaried GP at Church Street Surgery in 2016 and stayed ever since, joining as a Partner in 2023.

Since then she has developed an interest in women’s health, including ring pessary fitting and HRT.

In 2025 she completed her training to become a GP educator and is excited to be training GP registrars at New River Health.

Personally, she is married and has 2 young children. She loves gardening, painting, playing tennis and being outside with the family, either exploring woods, trails or weekends away at the seaside.

Particularly interested in paediatrics, cancer care and teaching.

Enjoys all aspects of General Practice but
especially interested in dermatology and
women’s health.

Dr Martindale has been with New River Health since 2021. She loves the friendly team and the family atmosphere, which she believes is experienced also by our patients.

Dr Martindale was inspired to become a doctor by a combination of a love of science at school and a desire to help people, however she first exclaimed that she wanted to be a doctor when she was about 3 and told her parents she would “like to be a doctor or maybe the Queen when I grow up”.

She knew quite early on in her medical training that General Practice would be the right career path as she realised she was more interested in the people she was treating than the specifics of any one area of medicine. She says she has never regretted her choice and can’t imagine having to choose between focusing on the gut or the heart, the old or the young. As such she practices very holistically. She is currently undertaking additional training in “Nutritional and Ecological Medicine” to look more fully at the interplay of body systems, mind, social circumstances and emotions in the presentation of health and disease.

Dr Martindale did her undergraduate medical training in Leicester in the mid 1990’s and was in a wave of junior doctors in the early 2000’s who saw huge upheaval in the NHS and the way that doctors learnt and worked. The changes she saw helped to drive her ongoing belief that continuity in a medical team and lifestyle changes for the patient need to come before drug interventions in most of medicine.
During the early part of her GP training, Dr Martindale obtained a Diploma in the Management of Drug Misuse in primary care and the community, having worked for a Non-Profit organisation in central London prior to her GP training. This provided in-patient detox in a small, locked community for those in significant drug crisis. She says it helped her to see how much social situations can impact health and has given her a greater insight into people from all walks of life. 

She qualified as a GP in 2008 having taken some time out to have children. She has worked locally in Ware on and off since 2012 and has worked in all 3 practices that existed in the town at that time.

Outside of medicine she sings in a choir, is an active member of her local church and likes to spend time with family and friends. She is also starting on a new venture doing private lifestyle and food / nutrition interventions including health consultations, 1:1 cookery lessons and food budgeting.

Works at Church Street Surgery Mondays and Thursdays. Works at Castlegate Surgery on Tuesdays. Enjoys all aspects of General Practice but especially interested in women’s health, cardiology and teaching.

Dr Anil is in the last year of her GP training and will be at New River Health from August 2025 till July 2026. 

After finishing school, Claire took a gap year to travel and explore the world. When she returned home, she took a part-time admin job at a GP surgery—and it was there that Claire discovered her passion for nursing. Inspired by the work she saw around her, she went on to train as a nurse and began her career as a district nurse.

After a few years working in the community, Claire joined Church Street Surgery in 2013. Since then, she’s continued to develop her skills, completing additional training in diabetes care, minor illness, and qualifying as a Nurse Prescriber. Claire enjoys all aspects of primary care nursing and feels privileged to support patients through so many different stages of their lives.

Outside of work, Claire lives in Bishop’s Stortford with her husband and their two children. Claire loves being active—whether that’s walking, gardening, playing sports, or spending time outdoors in nature. She also enjoys cooking for her friends and family.

Registered Nurse Adult (1999), Independent Prescriber, RCN ANLP, Diploma Minor Illness, Diploma Professional Nursing Studies, NMC Assessor of Student Nurse Practice.

Special interest in Asthma, Diabetes, Practice of Family Planning and Reproductive Sexual Health), FSRH Subdermal contraceptive implant technique

Interests in General Practice Nursing, wound care, asthma, immunisations.

Paul is an experienced paramedic employed within the practice. He is able to deal with most acute illnesses and will triage our on the day appointments.

Been at the surgery since April 2002, has been a HCA since 2003, completing an NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social care . Interested in all types of patient care. Enjoys helping patients to meet their full potential and achieve their goals with stopping smoking, losing weight, and managing their long term conditions. Helping the Nursing team where required with complex dressings and procedures.
Lives in Hertfordshire and has a daughter who is a photographer. Her relaxing time is being out in nature, nature and wildflife photography, birdwatching, walking with her partner and they completed the three highest peaks in the UK together. Enjoys going to the gym, and any spare time is spent knitting, crocheting, crafting miniatures, reading and spending time with friends and family.

Works at Church Street Surgery
Tuesdays and Thursdays
Works at Castlegate Surgery on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Joined the practice in January 2025.