Members of Council

The list below shows members’ full names, qualifications and biographies. Members were appointed following an independent appointments process for a four year term, 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2016.

Name	Image
Professor Sir Peter Rubin (GMC Ref No: 1743089) Chair of Council and registrant member, England Peter Rubin is Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Physician at Nottingham University Hospitals. He was appointed as a Council member and elected Chair of the GMC in 2009, having previously chaired the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board. He is an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College Cambridge, the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. He was previously an American Heart Association Fellow at Stanford and a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Glasgow. He is a former President of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland, and a former board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England. He was knighted in 2010 for services to medicine.
Dr Shree Datta (GMC Ref No: 6076715) Registrant member, England Shree Datta is a Locum Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Epsom & St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, having previously undertaken consultant and senior registrar duties at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. She is a Director of the British Medical Association and former Chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors’ Committee. She has also chaired the North European Junior Doctors Association; and is a trustee of the Medical Foundation for AIDS and Sexual Health.
Lady Christine Eames Lay member, Northern Ireland Christine Eames holds a portfolio of non-executive positions in the public and voluntary sectors. She is a trustee of Christian Aid, Ireland, a trustee of Leonard Cheshire Disability UK and the organisation’s Chair for Northern Ireland and a trustee of Cancer Focus Northern Ireland; a committee member of Barnardo’s Northern Ireland; an advisor to the Northern Ireland Child Contact Centre; and an ambassador for Home-Start UK. She is also a governor of Hunterhouse College, Belfast. She was previously World President of The Mothers’ Union and a Commissioner for Human Rights in Northern Ireland. From 2008-10 she was Chair of the GMC’s Working Group on End of Life Care. She was awarded an OBE for services to the community in 2006.
Professor Michael Farthing (GMC Ref No: 1570249) Registrant member, England Michael Farthing is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex, Honorary Consultant Gastroenterologist at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust, and Honorary Consultant in Gastroenterology to the Army. He is a board member of Universities UK, has chaired its Health and Social Care Policy Committee and been a member of its Health Committee (with the lead for research integrity). He is Vice-Chair of the UK Panel for Research Integrity in Health and Biomedical Sciences, a Non-Executive Director of Brighton and Sussex University Trust and a member of its Quality and Safety Committee. He was a GMC Council member from 2001-03 and a member of the GMC’s Education Committee until 2008.
Baroness Helene Hayman Lay member, England Helene Hayman sits as a Crossbench peer and was Lord Speaker of the House of Lords from 2006 – 11. Helene is an independent member of the Parliamentary and Political Service Honours Committee, and is Vice Chairman of an all-Party Parliamentary Group on Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. She also serves on the board of the Sabin Vaccine Institute in the US. She has had a political career, serving as an MP from 1974-9 and becoming a Life Peer in the House of Lords in 1996, initially as Opposition Spokesperson for Health and later as Minister for Roads; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health; and Minister of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. She has also held a variety of roles in the public and voluntary sectors, including Chair of Cancer Research UK, the Human Tissue Authority, and the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; and was one of the founding members of the charity Maternity Alliance. She was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire in 2012.
Professor the Lord Ajay Kakkar (GMC Ref No: 3291900) Registrant member, England Ajay Kakkar is Professor of Surgery at University College London and a Consultant Surgeon at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He was made a Life Peer in 2010 and sits on the crossbenches in the House of Lords. He chairs the Associate Parliamentary Group on Surgical Services; is Vice Chair of the All Parliamentary Groups on Medical Research and India; and is a member of the Health Honours Committee. He is also a Director of the Thrombosis Research Institute, London. Other roles include Chair, Clinical Quality, of University College London Partners Academic Health Sciences System; commissioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea; and member of the Executive and Council of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland.
Professor Deirdre Kelly (GMC Ref No: 2598565) Registrant member, England Deirdre Kelly is a Consultant Paediatric Hepatologist and Director of the Liver Unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and Professor of Paediatric Hepatology at the University of Birmingham. She is the Chair of the Clinical Implementation Advisory Group for Paediatric Congenital Cardiac Services, a member of the Advisory Group on Hepatitis and has previously served on a number of expert Advisory Committees and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence’s Programme Development Group for Hepatitis B&C. She is Medical Vice-Chair, West Midlands, for the Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards. She has been a Commissioner on the Healthcare Commission and the Care Quality Commission from which she will step down in January 2013. She is a former Medical Director of Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and has been president or chair of various national and international medical organisations and medical advisor to a number of national patient organisations.
Dame Suzi Leather Lay member, England Suzi Leather has wide-ranging experience of governance in the public and voluntary sectors, most recently as Chair of the Charity Commission from 2006-12. She is Chair of the Ethics Committee of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and a member of the Ethics Committee of Exeter University. She is also Chair of the LankellyChase Foundation and Vice President of Hospiscare (Exeter, East and Mid Devon) Previous roles include Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, Deputy Chair of the UK Food Standards Agency, Chair of the School Food Trust, and Chair of Exeter and District Community NHS Trust.
Professor Jim McKillop (GMC Ref No: 1328765) Registrant member, Scotland Jim McKillop has been a GMC Council member since 2009 and has chaired its Undergraduate Board and the Good Medical Practice Review Working Group. He was Muirhead Professor of Medicine at the University of Glasgow and Honorary Consultant Physician for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde until 2011. He was Deputy Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Glasgow, and the head of its undergraduate medical school. Other roles have included Chair, NHS Education for Scotland Medical Advisory Group; Chair, Scottish Dean’s Medical Education Group; Vice-Chair, GMC Project Board on Disability and Medical School Entry; and member of the Board for Academic Medicine in Scotland.
Dame Denise Platt Lay member, England Denise Platt holds a portfolio of non-executive roles, including membership of the Committee for Standards in Public Life, and Chair of the National AIDS Trust. She is a trustee of the NSPCC and chairs its Audit and Risk Committee and is a member of the Policy and Development committees; a trustee of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales and a member of its Remuneration and Nominations committees; Advisory Board member of the National Institute for Health Research, School of Social Care Research. Until recently she was a governor of the University of Bedfordshire and is a current member of the University Court. She has a social care background, and her previous roles include Chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection, Chief Inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate, and Commissioner at the Audit Commission. She was a member of the Commission on Assisted Dying. She was appointed a DBE in 2004 for services to social care.
Mrs Enid Rowlands Lay member, Wales Enid Rowlands has been a GMC Council member since 2009 and has chaired its Remuneration and Member Issues Committee. Enid is UK Chair of Victim Support and is a board member of both the National Employment Savings Trust and Consumer Focus, as well a Non-Executive Director of the Information Commissioner’s Office and will be a member of the Solicitors Regulatory Authority from January 2013. She has a background in change management, organisational transition and development. Previous roles have included Chair of North Wales Health Authority, member of the Ministerial Advisory Board for Health, independent member of the North Wales Police Authority, and non-executive board member of the Broadcast Equality and Training Regulator.
Dr Hamish Wilson Lay member, Scotland Hamish Wilson has been a GMC Council member since 2009, serving on its Postgraduate Board, Resources, Fitness to Practise, Education and Training committees, and as a pension trustee. Hamish is non-executive member and Vice Chair of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and a member of the Scottish Dental Practice Board. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Following a career in healthcare with the Grampian Health Board and the Health Department of the Scottish Executive, he was appointed CBE in 2006. He has previously served as a non-executive member of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care; chaired the Commission’s Audit, Resources and Complaints Review committees; chaired the steering group for the 60th Anniversary of the NHS in Scotland. He has recently completed a review of NHS pharmaceutical care of patients in the community, on behalf of the Scottish Government. He is a current member of the Business Committee of the General Council of the University of Aberdeen, and of the Scottish Advisory Board of Marie Curie Cancer Care.