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.
Mr Tim Mitchell was appointed President of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) of London in July 2023.
Tim is an ENT surgeon from Southampton, and was Senior Vice President of the College. As Vice President, he has led the College’s work on the implementation of the Kennedy review recommendations, membership and regional engagement and learning. The RCS was founded in 1800.
Professor Steve Turner became President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in March 2024. Steve is a Lancastrian by birth, born in Blackburn in 1969. He graduated from medical school in Newcastle in 1992. As a trainee he worked in centres across North East England, New Zealand and Australia. Since 2003 his consultant appointment in Aberdeen has balanced life as a general paediatrician, a respiratory paediatrician and clinical academic.
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.
