Remembering Sir Donald Irvine
Sir Donald Irvine, President of the General Medical Council from 1995 to 2002, died this week at the age of 83.
Sir Donald started life in the profession as a general practitioner in a Northumberland mining community. Through his writing and leadership roles he also had a major role in the evolution of medical ethics, and was the first GP to be President of the General Medical Council.
He led professional regulation through a period of turmoil following high-profile inquiries including failings in care at Bristol Royal Infirmary in the 1990s.
"Sir Donald Irvine led extensive reform of professional regulation in the most challenging of circumstances following the Bristol inquiry. As Chair of the GMC’s standards committee before that he was tremendously influential in the development of the guidance that doctors continue to follow in their everyday practice, Good Medical Practice, and in making sure that patients were at the heart of those standards."
Prof Sir Terence Stephenson
Chair of the GMC
