Surgeon Vice-Admiral Philip Iain Raffaelli, CB, QHP, FRCP (born 24 November 1955 in

Kirkcaldy, Fife Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 201 ...

) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

general practitioner and Royal Naval Medical Officer. Raffaelli served as Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces until 2012.

Military career

Raffaelli joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

as a cadet in 1976, while studying medicine at

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 ...

. Raffaelli joined the

Royal Navy Submarine Service The Royal Navy Submarine Service is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the Silent Service, as submarines are generally required to operate undetected. The service operates six fleet submarines ( SSNs) ...

and worked as a

medical officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

from 1979, working for a time on submarines. In 2007, he became the head of the Royal Navy Medical Service, the Medical Director General (Naval), as Surgeon

Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...

, before assuming the position of Surgeon-General on 22 December 2009, taking over from

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Louis Lillywhite Lieutenant General Louis Patrick Lillywhite, (born 23 February 1948) is a retired British Army physician and officer. He was Surgeon-General of the British Armed Forces from 2006 until December 2009. Between January 2017 and January 2022, he ...

.Phillip Raffaelli
MOD Retrieved 13 February 2010

Honours

Raffaelli was appointed as an Honorary

Physician to the Queen Physician to the King (or Queen, as appropriate) is a title held by physicians of the Medical Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Part of the Royal Household, the Medical Household includes physicians, who treat general conditions ...

in 2005, and later as a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

. He is also a Governor of the

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands. The trust operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston ( ...

, and an appointee to the court of the

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The inst ...

Annual Report
2008-2009,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raffaelli, Philip Living people Companions of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy Medical Service officers Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians 1955 births Surgeons-General of the British Armed Forces Royal Navy vice admirals People from Kirkcaldy Royal Navy submariners Commanders of the Order of St John Alumni of the University of Edinburgh