Your Health
Your Voice
Your Specialist Family Physician
Welcome to Feeling Positive – Physical & Mental Health
Feeling Positive Physical and Mental Health is deeply committed to care that truly reflects the South African experience. Founded by Dr Gail Ashford, who has a deep, unwavering passion for HIV medicine and to help people living with HIV to lead healthy and normal lives, the multidisciplinary practice is built on the belief that every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
From infancy through adolescence, adulthood, pregnancy, and into aging, we manage HIV across every stage of life. Dr Gail is a passionate advocate for HIV positive women to experience a safe, healthy and joyous pregnancy with support for breastfeeding and careful follow-up of the baby.
Gail and her team offer concierge care with understanding and compassion, guiding you gently through the healthcare maze when you’re feeling anxious or unwell. We assist you in understanding medical aid processes and help you get the best value from your medical aid. We also support you through hospital admissions and navigating other specialists, looking at the whole picture of your health and advocating for you. We walk alongside you with no judgment and a standard of clinical excellence. Based at Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre in Parktown, Johannesburg, we proudly offer supportive, holistic care in a space where you are heard and understood.
What is a Specialist Family Physician?
A Specialist Family Physician is a medical specialist trained to care for people across all ages and health conditions. Unlike doctors who focus only on one area, they provide continuous, whole-person care, supporting you through everyday health concerns, chronic conditions, pregnancy, HIV care, and ageing.
At Feeling Positive, this means having a first point of contact, Dr Gail Ashford, who understands the realities of living with complex conditions. Dr Ashford aligns her care toward ongoing support for HIV, chronic conditions, pregnancy care, and family health. Her commitment is to walk alongside you over time, coordinating care with a trusted team to help you manage health challenges and ensure your care feels supportive, inclusive, and sensitive to your lived experience.
As a Specialist Family Physician, Dr Gail is skilled to manage more complex cases where there may be multiple conditions needing comprehensive management (for example, rather than having to see multiple specialists, this allows a person who has Diabetes, HIV, Hypertension, Depression, Obesity and Menopause to be seen and have all their health concerns addressed in one place, reducing the need for fragmented care across many doctors)
Meet Our Team
Led by Dr Gail Ashford, our multidisciplinary team is united by a shared commitment to compassionate, respectful care that reflects the lived realities of South Africans. Working closely together, we support you through every stage of your health journey with understanding, discretion, and clear guidance.
Dr Gail Ashford
Specialist Family Physician & HIV specialist
Zamo Mbele
Clinical Psychologist
Carmin Wright
Occupational Therapist
Fred Kativu
Practice Administrators
Jenifa Halu
Practice Administrators
Gail Ashford, Fred Kativu, Carmin Wright, Zamo Mbele, Jenifa Halu
Browse Our Services
HIV Support
HIV can be overwhelming. We provide sensitive HIV support for adults of all ages, children, and pregnant women, ensuring you never feel alone. This includes guidance for safe conception, pregnancy and breastfeeding, treatment monitoring and management of drug-resistant HIV, and long-term support for living well with HIV. We want you to get on with a normal life with a well-managed chronic condition that does not consume and stigmatise you.
Management of Chronic Conditions
Chronic conditions such as HIV, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity can impact your health and daily life in many ways. Our Specialist Family Physician provides ongoing reviews, treatment monitoring, and personalised guidance to help you and your family manage these challenges with confidence. Receiving care from one dedicated doctor ensures continuity across multiple medical areas, improving satisfaction and outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Medical aids such as Discovery Health recognise the importance of having a primary doctor who coordinates your care and supports your long-term wellbeing.
Management of Post-Viral & Autoimmune Conditions (including Chronic Fatigue Syndromes and Long Covid)
There is a saying regarding this kind of patient: when doctors cannot explain or treat a complex patient problem, the patient is often treated as the problem itself. Ivan Illich’s thoughts on this framework explain how, in modern medicine, patients with complex or unexplained conditions can be stigmatised or blamed because their problems do not fit neatly into medical categories or because medical care itself may have caused harm or dependency.
Living with post-viral syndromes, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or autoimmune conditions can be exhausting and disheartening. Dr Gail provides compassionate, coordinated care focused on symptom management, recovery, and collaboration with specialists to restore everyday well-being. She often supports patients who have seen multiple doctors and undergone extensive investigations without answers, offering the time, understanding, and advocacy they deserve.
Dr Gail also remains mindful of costs and budget constraints of dealing with these types of conditions and works closely with the medical aids and within your budget.
Women’s Support and Health
Women’s Health is about much more than fertility. It is about embracing the stages of womanhood and optimising her health for each stage of life.
Women living with HIV can experience specific challenges unique to them, specifically during pregnancy and breastfeeding, perimenopause and menopause. We offer sensitive medical care, guidance on safe conception practices, proactive management of perimenopause and menopause related conditions and support throughout your journey into optimal old age..
Mental Health
Our team offers easy access to mental health care alongside physical health support. Through psychotherapy and counselling, you can safely explore challenges and build emotional resilience and well-being strategies. Mental Health conditions form the most typical conditions these days, with anxiety being the most common and frequent mental health condition seen (1 in 8 people suffer or experience anxiety symptoms). Mental health conditions are among the most common health issues today that anyone can face.
What is Concierge Care?
Concierge care aims to make healthcare experiences smoother, more compassionate, and less stressful, especially when patients feel anxious or unwell. It is about personalized, accessible, and empathetic support, making sure patients feel guided and cared for at every step
Contact Us
Address:
Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, 17 Eton Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193