A general practitioner (GP) or family physician is a doctor who is a consultant in general practice.
General practice is personal,family,and community-orientated comprehensive primary care that includes diagnosis,continues over time and is anticipatory as well as responsive.
In the United Kingdom,a chief medical officer (CMO) is the most senior government advisor on matter relating to health. There are four chief medical officers in the United Kingdom who are appointed to advise their respective governments:
Stephen John Field is a general practitioner and Chairman of The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust. He was previously Chief Inspector of General Practice at England's Care Quality Commission. He is a past chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners. He is Honorary Professor of Medical Education at the University of Warwick (2002–present) and Honorary Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Birmingham (2003–present).
Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages,genders,diseases,and parts of the body. The specialist,who is usually a primary care physician,is named a family physician. It is often referred to as general practice and a practitioner as a general practitioner. Historically,their role was once performed by any doctor with qualifications from a medical school and who works in the community. However,since the 1950s,family medicine / general practice has become a specialty in its own right,with specific training requirements tailored to each country. The names of the specialty emphasize its holistic nature and/or its roots in the family. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community,focusing on disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA),the aim of family medicine is "promoting personal,comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community". The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.
NHS Scotland,sometimes styled NHSScotland,is the publicly–funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland,supported by seven special non-geographic health boards,and Public Health Scotland.
NHS Grampian is an NHS board which forms one of the fourteen regional health boards of NHS Scotland. It is responsible for proving health and social care services to a population of over 500,000 people living in Aberdeen,Aberdeenshire and Moray.
NHS Lanarkshire is responsible for the health care of more than 652,000 people living within the council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire in Scotland,making it the third largest health board in the country after NHS Greater Glasgow &Clyde and NHS Lothian. NHS Lanarkshire employs approximately 12,000 staff. The board is based at Kirklands,Fallside Road in Bothwell,South Lanarkshire.
The Health and Social Care Directorates are a group of directorates of the Scottish Government. They are responsible for NHS Scotland,as well as policies on the development and implementation of health and social care.
Healthcare in England is mainly provided by the National Health Service (NHS),a public body that provides healthcare to all permanent residents in England,that is free at the point of use. The body is one of four forming the UK National Health Service,as health is a devolved matter;there are differences with the provisions for healthcare elsewhere in the United Kingdom,and in England it is overseen by NHS England. Though the public system dominates healthcare provision in England,private health care and a wide variety of alternative and complementary treatments are available for those willing and able to pay.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) is the coordinating body for the United Kingdom and Ireland's 24 Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties. It ensures that patients are safely and properly cared for by setting standards for the way doctors are educated,trained and monitored throughout their careers. The Academy Council meet regularly to agree direction. The Council comprises the Presidents of the member Colleges and Faculties and four coopted council members.
Ernest Macalpine "Mac" Armstrong is a general practitioner and former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland.
Dame Clare Mary Louise Francis Gerada,Lady Wessely,is a London-based general practitioner who is a former President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and a former chairperson of the RCGP Council (2010–2013). She has professional interests in mental health,substance misuse,and gambling problems.
Out-of-hours services are the arrangements to provide access to healthcare at times when General Practitioner surgeries are closed;in the United Kingdom this is normally between 6.30pm and 8am,at weekends,at Bank Holidays and sometimes if the practice is closed for educational sessions.
EMIS Health,formerly known as Egton Medical Information Systems,supplies electronic patient record systems and software used in primary care,acute care and community pharmacy in the United Kingdom. The company is based in Leeds. It claims that more than half of GP practices across the UK use EMIS Health software and holds number one or two market positions in its main markets. In June 2022 the company was acquired by Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited,an affiliate of UnitedHealth's Optum business for a 49% premium on EMIS's closing share price.
Catherine Jane CalderwoodFRCOG FRCPE is a Scottish consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist,who has served as the National Clinical Director for Sustainable Delivery at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital since 2021. She previously served as the Chief Medical Officer for Scotland from 2015 to 2020,having advised the Scottish Government's initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland.
Miles Bradley Mack is a British medical doctor who was chair of the Scottish Academy 2019–2022 and was chair of the Scottish council of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) 2014–2017. He works as a general practitioner in Dingwall in the north of Scotland.
Nikita "Nikki" Kanani MBE is a general practitioner and the former chief clinical officer of the Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group. In 2018 she became the first woman to be appointed medical director of primary care at NHS England.
Sir Lewis Duthie Ritchie is a Scottish medical doctor who worked as a general practitioner (GP) and medical researcher. He is the James Mackenzie Professor of General Practice at the University of Aberdeen and holds honorary professorships at the University of Edinburgh and the University of the Highlands and Islands.
Professor Nicola Steedman is the Scottish Deputy Chief Medical Officer.
