Who is the most senior doctor in the UK?
This is a hard question to answer. That is because healthcare from the NHS (and public health) is devolved in the UK. So Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have different leaders to those named below. In England, the doctors below can in some way claim to be the most senior doctor in the UK.
Professor Chris Whitty is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, the UK government’s Chief Medical Adviser and head of the public health profession. He represents the UK on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization. He is also a a Consultant Physician at University College London Hospital (UCLH) and the Hospital for Tropical Diseases. He became very well known in the COVID-19 pandemic and guided our country through it.
Dame Jenny Harries is the Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) which is responsible for the public’s health protection and security in the UK.
Dr Jeanelle de Gruchy is Deputy Chief Medical Officer and supports the Chief Medical Officer (Chris Witty) on health improvement issues and is co-lead of the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), which is responsible for public health in England. She worked clinically in South Africa and then in the NHS and has over 20 years’ public health experience.
Professor Stephen Powis is National Medical Director for NHS England, and was appointed at the start of 2018 to succeed Sir Bruce Keogh. He is also a Professor of Renal Medicine at University College London.
Dr Sarah Catherine Clarke has served as the President of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) of London since September 2022. She is a Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, and participates in the on-call primary angioplasty rota. The RCP was founded in 1518 by a Royal Charter from King Henry VIII.
Professor Neil Mortensen was appointed President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of London in 2020. He is a professor of Colorectal Surgery at the University of Oxford Medical School and has been on the staff of the Oxford University Hospitals since 1987, where he is currently Honorary Consultant Colorectal Surgeon. The RCS was founded in 1800.
Dr Camilla Kingdon became President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in May 2021. She graduated from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and trained in paediatrics in London. She has been a Consultant Neonatologist since 2000, working at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital.
There are many Royal Colleges, and the RCP and RCS are only two of them, perhaps the most influential. There are other Royal Colleges in Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Professor Sir Huw Thomas, is the Head of the Medical Household and Physician to the King, and is in charge of looking after the King’s health. He is a Consultant Gastroenterologist at St Mary’s Hospital, London, and Professor of Gastrointestinal Genetics at Imperial College London and St Mark’s Hospital.
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