News of Wales - Issue 1
October 2005
Wales in Manchester
There was a strong Welsh flavour to the installation of the president at Manchester Town Hall during the ARM.
Dame Deirdre Hine was installed as President, Dr Bryn John was awarded the Association’s Medal Testimonial and Professor Michael Vickers was made a fellow of the Association.
Dame Deirdre Hine qualified in medicine at the then Welsh National School of Medicine in 1961. After experience in hospital medicine and general practice she trained in Public Health Medicine and was appointed to a consultant post in 1974. She has had a varied career in both academic and NHS practice.
She established the much applauded Welsh Breast Cancer Screening Service, Breast Test Wales, before becoming Chief Medical Officer at the Welsh Office from 1990 to 1997. She is known widely for her co- publication with Sir Kenneth Calman of the seminal Report on Cancer Services which bears their names.
She was awarded the DBE for Services to Medicine in 1997. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, of the Faculty of Public Health and of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and an Honorary Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. She is the recipient of an Honorary MD of the University of Wales and numerous other honorary degrees and fellowships.
After retirement as Chief Medical Officer she served as a member of the Audit Commission from 1997 to 1999, was elected as President of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2000 to 2002, and was appointed to Chair the Commission for Health Improvement from 1999 until April 2004. She is an Independent Member of the House of Lords Appointment Commission, a Vice-President of Marie Curie Cancer Care, a Non-Executive Director of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water, Chairman of the BUPA Foundation and of the Royal Society of Medicine Press Board. She is a member of the Ethics Committee of Dr Foster and also serves as a member of the adjudication panel for the Shaw Prize in Life Sciences and Medicine, a prestigious International Prize of one million US dollars awarded annually by the Shaw Foundation of Hong Kong.
She is married to Dr Raymond Hine, a retired Academic physicist, and has two sons and three grandchildren.
Professor Michael Vickers has been an active and longstanding member of the BMA for 34 years serving as chairman of the division 1990-92, member of the executive committee since 1990, treasurer since 2000, and member of the RB since 2000 as well as the driving force behind the division's involvement in the 1998 ARM. He has also served on the Central Committee for Hospital Medical Services and was chairman of the Anaesthetics Subcommittee.
As Chairman of the Retired Members' Forum, and a member of Council, he has been an instrumental and tireless advocate in the development of the Forum.
In the field of anaesthesia he has led the way in raising the character of the profession, medicine and science of anaesthesiology within the UK and worldwide and has held positions of Secretary, Vice President and President from 1972 in , organisations including the Association of Anaesthetists of GB and Ireland " between 1972-1984, European Academy of Anaesthesiology between 1980- 1991, and several posts in the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists culminating in its presidency 1996-2000.
He is also the author of a number of books and editor of a number of journals in the field of anaesthesia. He has retired from the prestigious post of Professor of Anaesthetics, University of Wales College of Medicine, to take up the post of Chairman of the Prince of Wales Hospital Trust. His loyalty, dedication and commitment to both the profession and the Association is also marked by his being awarded an OBE.
The Association Medal was instituted in 2001 and is awarded to members who, in the opinion of Council, have given outstanding and sustained national service to the Association in two or more constituencies.
At its meeting on 9 March 2005 the Council of the British Medical Association resolved that the Association Medal be awarded to Dr Ronald Bryn John.
Citation
It is with the greatest pleasure that the Council of the British Medical Association awards you Dr Ronald Bryn John, the Association Medal in recognition of your outstanding and sustained service to the Association and your distinguished contribution to medicine.
You were born on 14July 1945 and you were educated at Cowbridge Grammar School and the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin where you qualified as a doctor in June 1970. Since 1975 you have been caring for the people of Neath and Port Talbot in a general practice of 6,200 patients, during which time you have been actively involved in the major developments in the NHS in Wales.
Through your commitment as a general practitioner in a busy practice you have gained a vast amount of knowledge and expertise and have understood and appreciated the planning and implementation of all reforms of the NHS in Wales.
The high regard and respect with which you are held by colleagues in all disciplines has enabled you to assist the Welsh Office and the Welsh Assembly Government to fulfil its policies. Since devolution you have worked with the Welsh Assembly Government as a negotiator for the Welsh General Practitioners Committee representing general practitioners in a thoughtful and professional way, and have recently been appointed Medical Director of the Neath Port Talbot Local Health Board where you continue to promote the profession and work towards improving patient care and supporting doctors in this area.
Your contribution to the work of the NHS is evident from your involvement on behalf of the profession in negotiations with the Department of Health which led to the introduction of deprivation payments for general practitioners, the Maternity Services Working Party and the Review of Community Nursing Services (Edwards Report).
You have also been involved in the clinical effectiveness initiatives in Wales where you chaired the NICE project board, and also the complaints procedure and subsequent appeals both in England and Wales. Your involvement continued in the area of advisory appointment committees for consultant appointments at local level, and for more senior posts at an all-Wales level, as well as the Welsh GMSC/RCGP Welsh Council Joint Working Party on 'Patient Care and the General Practitioner'.
You have been the bedrock of the BMA within Wales and have served the interests of general practitioners and all doctors in Wales for over two decades in a number of capacities and have not only been involved but have led from the front, tackling difficult issues like devolution with skill and enthusiasm. You have been a true leader
of the profession in Wales and the UK and have influenced individuals, patients' groups, management and the government at many levels and over several "generations".
As a cornerstone of the BMA for many years, you have been a leading light as Chairman of the then Welsh GMSC and subsequently Welsh Council, member of the UK General Practitioners (Committee and as the first general practitioner to Chair the Welsh Medical Committee. Throughout this time you have represented the profession at meetings with ministers and officers of the Welsh Office.
Dr John, your career has spanned 35 years. In this time you have been an outstanding ambassador for the profession and the BMA at government, national and local level, delivered a high standard of professional care for your patients and made an enormous contribution to medical politics. We testify to this and your notable achievements in conferring upon you the Association Medal.