Published on July 15, 2004 at 7:09 AM
Dr Hamish Meldrum, a GP practising in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, has today (Thursday 15 July 2004) been elected to lead the UK's 45,000 GPs as the new chairman of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC).
He succeeds Dr John Chisholm who stood down from the chairmanship after seven years in post. Dr Meldrum has been joint Deputy Chairman of the GPC for the past five years. He joined the GPC Negotiating team in 1997 having been on the committee since 1991. He is a former chairman of his Local Medical Committee, East Yorkshire LMC, of which he has been a member since 1980.
He was part of the team which negotiated the new national General Medical Services Contract implemented in full this April. He has also pushed for improvements for doctors working under Personal Medical Services contracts, GP Registrars, salaried GPs and other non-partner general practitioners.
On being appointed chairman, Dr Meldrum said: "I feel very privileged to be elected to lead the GPC at such a critical time for general practice. There is still a huge job of work to be done, not just to implement the new GMS contract, but to ensure that all GPs, whatever their contractual situation, have a chance to develop and flourish both for their benefit and that of their patients. Working together, we must persuade governments to provide the resources that will consolidate the position of general practice in its rightful place at the heart of the NHS."
In addition to his role as GPC Chairman, he will continue to work in his Bridlington practice for part of every week.
The following doctors were today (15 July 2004) elected as the other members of the GPC Negotiating Team for the next 12 months:
Dr Laurence Buckman
Dr Peter Holden
Dr Stewart Drage
Dr Richard Vautrey
www.bma.org.uk