Features: A Council for the future
26 January 2009
On 27 January the GMC's Reconstituted Council met for the first time. GMCtoday introduces the Members.
On 27 January 2009, the GMC’s reconstituted Council met for the first time. With equal numbers of medical and lay members, all appointed by the Appointments Commission, the 24 members each bring a wealth of experience and expertise. GMCtoday introduces them.
Many people contribute to the work of the GMC, the governing body of which is the Council. As of 1 January, the Council became 24 members; 12 lay and 12 medical. Its composition reflects the GMC’s interest groups: patients and the public; doctors; the NHS and other healthcare providers; and medical schools and medical Royal Colleges.
To ensure continuity, Professor Sir Graeme Catto who has been President of the GMC since 2002, has been re-appointed as a member of the Council so that he can continue as Chair for six months, until June 2009, during which time the Council will elect a member to succeed him. Here GMCtoday profiles the people who will steer the work of the GMC over the next four years.
Sir Rodney Brooke – lay member
A solicitor by profession, Sir Rodney was Chief Executive of West Yorkshire County Council, the City of Westminster Council and the Association of Metropolitan Authorities; and was Chair of the General Social Care Council from 2002 to 2008. In March 2010 Sir Rodney will take up the post of Chair of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Professor Jane Dacre – medical member (will take up office no later than 1 July 2009)
Jane Dacre is a physician, rheumatologist, and Professor of Medical Education. She is Director of Education and Vice Dean at University College London and has recently completed three years as Academic Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians.
Dr Sam Everington – medical member
Sam Everington is a GP at Bromley by Bow Health, Wellbeing and Children’s Centre and board member of the Young Foundation Innovation Fund. Formerly, Dr Everington has held office as Deputy, then Acting, Chair of the British Medical Association and as NHS Commissioner for the Commission for Health Improvement.
Ms Sally Hawkins – lay member
Sally Hawkins is an equalities consultant and was previously a non-executive director of University Hospital Lewisham NHS Trust. Sally joined the GMC’s Council in 2005 and has also served as Director of the UK Council on Deafness and as Director of Policy and Public Affairs, Citizens Advice. She is also a freelance broadcaster, writer and charity consultant.
Dr John Jenkins – medical member
John Jenkins is a Senior Lecturer in Child Health at Queen’s University of Belfast and Consultant Paediatrician. John is also a founder member of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB). He also chairs PMETB’s Training Committee. John joined the GMC Council in 2003 and has been Chair of the GMC’s Standards and Ethics Committee.
“The introduction of revalidation and the merger of PMETB with the GMC will provide a unique opportunity to work with the profession and our other key interest groups to further develop medical regulation which supports all UK doctors in providing safe and high quality health care.” John Jenkins
Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope – lay member
A former Liberal Democrat MP and party Chief Whip, Lord Kirkwood is currently a member of the House of Lords. Until 2005, he was Chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee and spokesman for the House of Commons Commission. He is also a former Chair of the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. Ms Ros Levenson – lay member Ros Levenson is a researcher whose particular interests include age and race equality, disability issues and patient and public involvement. Ros has previously served as a Non-Executive Director of Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust and is currently a member of the Health Professions Council and of the Patient Information Advisory Group.
Ms Ros Levenson –
lay member Ros Levenson is a researcher whose particular interests include age and race equality, disability issues and patient and public involvement. Ros has previously served as a Non- Executive Director of Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust and is currently a member of the Health Professions Council and of the Patient Information Advisory Group.
“It is very exciting to have the opportunity to bring all my interests together and to join the council at a time when there are such great opportunities for new partnerships between the public and the medical profession.” Ros Levenson
Dr Malcolm Lewis – medical member
Malcolm Lewis is a Principal in General Practice, currently part time, and Sub-Dean and Director of Postgraduate General Practice Education in Wales and a member of the GMC/Academy of Medical Royal Colleges Recertification Group. Having been a GP trainer, Malcolm has also been a member of the (England) CMO’s Working Group on Education and Revalidation. Malcolm joined the GMC Council in 1999 and was Chair of the GMC’s Registration Committee.
Mr Robin MacLeod – lay member
Robin MacLeod was Chief Executive of the North Cumbria Health Authority and the Cumbria Family Health Services Authority. His current appointments are as Executive Chair, CueDoc Ltd (out of hours ‘not for profit’ company limited by guarantee) and as Assessor for the Clinicians in Management Programme, Newcastle University Medical School. Robin joined the GMC Council in 2003. He was also formerly Deputy Secretary, Grampian Health Board from 1971 to 1982.
Professor Rajan Madhok – medical member
Rajan Madhok is the Medical Director of Manchester PCT with a background in Orthopaedic Surgery and Public Health Medicine. He holds professorial appointments with the Universities of Manchester, Teesside and Manchester Metropolitan and he has been a panellist on the GMC’s fitness to practise panel.
Dr Johann Malawana – medical member
Johann Malawana graduated from Barts in 2005. He currently works in London as a Year 2 Specialty Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He is also a member of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee and is the Chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctor’s Education and Training Team. He is a board member of PMETB. While at Barts he was President of Barts and The London Students’ Association.
Dr Joan Martin – lay member
Joan Martin’s areas of expertise include occupational therapy in mental health and eating disorders. She joined the GMC Council in 2003. Joan is a panel member of the Appeals Service (Northern Ireland) and also of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. Joan has been a board member of the Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine, a Fellow of the College of Occupational Therapists, and a member of the Architects Registration Board.
Mrs Suzanne McCarthy – lay member
Suzanne McCarthy is currently Immigration Services Commissioner and a member of the Public Guardian Board. Suzanne sits on the Pensions Regulator’s Determination Panel and the Board of Trustees of the University of London where she also chairs the Audit and Risk Committee. Suzanne was formerly Chief Executive of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Professor Jim McKillop – medical member
Jim McKillop is Muirhead Professor of Medicine and Deputy Executive Dean, University of Glasgow and Honorary Consultant Physician, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. He chairs the Scottish Deans’ Medical Education Group. Jim previously was Head of the Glasgow Undergraduate Medical School and a team leader for the GMC undergraduate medical education visitor programme.
Professor Trudie Roberts – medical member
Trudie Roberts is Director of the Leeds Institute of Medical Education having recently stepped down as Head of the School of Medicine in Leeds and is also Director of the Medical Education Unit at the University of Leeds. She is also Honorary Consultant at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust, a member of the Executive for the Association of Medical Education in Europe, and has been a GMC undergraduate medical education visitor.
Mrs Ann Robinson – lay member
Ann Robinson has been a Council member since 2003 and chaired the White Paper Implementation Steering Group. She is Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch.com and Director of Public Awareness of the Safe Gas Register as well as a partner in strategic consultancy, Rush Communications. Formerly, Ann was Director General of the British Retail Consortium and Chief Executive of SCOPE.
Mrs Enid Rowlands – lay member
Enid Rowlands has a background in training, organisational and economic development within England and Wales, and is a member of the North Wales Police Authority, director of a management consultancy company and a board member of Consumer Focus. She is also National Trustee for RNID Wales, and has chaired the National Council for Education and Training in Wales, and the North Wales Health Authority.
“The Council must work in a transparent manner to maintain the confidence of both service users and the profession itself.” Enid Rowlands
Professor Peter Rubin – medical member
Peter Rubin is Professor of Therapeutics/ Honorary Consultant Physician, Nottingham University Hospitals. He chaired the GMC’s Education Committee from 2002 to 2008. Peter is a board member of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and was Chair of the PMETB from 2005 to 2008. At the University of Nottingham, Peter led the development of a new graduate-entry medical school and chaired the creation of the first new veterinary school in the UK for 100 years.
Dr Mairi Scott – medical member
Mairi Scott is currently Director of the Professional Development Academy at the University of Dundee, an Honorary Consultant with NHS Tayside and Honorary Secretary of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties in Scotland. She is a past Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in Scotland.
Professor Iqbal Singh – medical member
Iqbal Singh is a Consultant Physician in Medicine for the Elderly and a Professor in Ethnicity and Health and is a Commissioner for the Health Care Commission. He is also an Honorary Sub-Dean for the Royal Society of Medicine. His past duties have included being Divisional Chair of organisations including the Indian Medical Association, the British International Doctors Association and the BMA.
"I hope that I can use my experience of healthcare regulation to help the GMC translate a vision of modern dynamic regulation into reality." Iqbal Singh
Professor Terence Stephenson – medical member
Terence Stephenson is Professor of Child Health and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, and Vice-President for Research and Science at the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He is also Consultant Paediatrician and Non-Executive Director, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. He has recently been elected as President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Ms Anne Weyman – lay member
Anne Weyman was Chief Executive of the Family Planning Association for 11 years. Current appointments include: Chair of the Programme Development Group, Personal, Social and Health Education; Chair, Programme Development Group, Contraceptive Services, NICE; and Vice Chair of the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV.
Mr Stephen Whittle – lay member
Formerly BBC Controller of Editorial Policy and Director of the Broadcasting Standards Commission (1996-2001), Stephen Whittle is currently Chair of the Broadcasting Training and Skills Regulator and works with the Reuters Institute of Journalism on issues around media ethics. He is also a board member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Dr Hamish Wilson – lay member
A non-executive member of the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, Hamish Wilson also chairs the Commission’s Audit and Complaints Review Committees. Before retirement, Hamish worked for many years as a senior manager in the NHS and was Head of the Primary Care Division for the Scottish Executive Health Department.
“A major challenge for the Council is to translate the principles of licensing and revalidation into practical arrangements for all categories of doctors, while at the same time providing assurance and protection for the public.” Hamish Wilson