Hamish Meldrum (born 1948) is a British doctor who worked as a general practitioner and was Chair of the Council of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

(BMA) 2007–2012. He took this role on after being Chair of the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC) 2004–2007.

Early life

Meldrum was born in 1948 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland. He lived in Aberdeen for seven years, then moved to Stirling where he attended

Stirling High School Stirling High School is a state high school for 11- to 18-year-olds run by Stirling Council in Stirling, Scotland. It is one of seven high schools in the Stirling district, and has approximately 972 pupils. It is located on Torbrex Farm Road, ...

Career

Meldrum graduated from

Edinburgh Medical School The University of Edinburgh Medical School (also known as Edinburgh Medical School) is the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the United Kingdom and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. It was esta ...

in 1972, then worked as a GP in Yorkshire. He joined the BMA's General Practitioners Committee (GPC) in 1991. He chaired the GPC from 2004 to 2007. Meldrum was elected as chair of BMA council in 2007. Among the first issues that he was faced with was the troubled introduction of a new system for junior doctors to be selected for training posts -

Medical Training Application Service The Medical Training Application Service (MTAS, pronounced ''em-tass'') was an on-line application system set up under the auspices of Modernising Medical Careers in 2007 and used for the selection of Foundation House Officers and Specialty Regist ...

(MTAS). He spoke out against

private finance initiative The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...

(PFI) schemes in the NHS, citing waste and inefficiency. In response to the unlawful killing of David Gray by an out-of-hours locum doctor, Meldrum supported the position that practicing doctors should be competent, including having the necessary language skills. He led doctors into industrial action over pension issues. He also spoke out against aspects of

Andrew Lansley Andrew David Lansley, Baron Lansley, (born 11 December 1956) is a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who previously served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Secretary of State for Health and Leader of the H ...

's Health and Social Care Bill. In March 2011, Meldrum retired from his practice in

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 Cen ...

, East Yorkshire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meldrum, Hamish 1948 births Living people 20th-century British medical doctors 21st-century British medical doctors People educated at Stirling High School British general practitioners Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School