Professor Sir Sam Everington elected next RCGP president

Tower Hamlets GP Professor Sir Sam Everington has been elected as the next RCGP president, the college has announced today.

Sir Sam, who is currently honorary vice president of the BMA and has recently been appointed as a non-executive director on NHS England’s board, will serve as RCGP president for a two-year term starting in November.

The college also announced the results for six nationally elected council member seats on RCGP UK Council. The successful candidates in the election were:

U A Tanvir Alam
Cheska Ball
Sam Everington
Alice Hodkinson
Deepthi Lavu
Dominic Patterson

As the president cannot serve as nationally elected council member, the sixth seat will be filled by the first runner up in the election process, Amrita Sen Mukherjee. The members will start their three-year term of office in November.

Sir Sam, who trained as a barrister before becoming a GP, has practised at the Bromley By Bow Centre in East London since 1989 and has previously been a national adviser for NHS England. He is also a champion of GP social prescribing and a member of the RCGP council.

In 1999 he received an OBE for services to inner city primary care and in 2015 a Knighthood for services to primary care.

Sir Sam said: ‘I cannot imagine a better job than being a family doctor. I will do everything I can to support all my colleagues to achieve a happy and fulfilling career in general practice.’

RCGP chief executive and college returning officer Mark Thomas said: ‘Congratulations to Sam and to all our new nationally elected members – and thank you to everyone who put themselves forward for election.

‘We look forward to working with our new president and new council members to improve the working lives of our members and the care they deliver to their patients, now and in the future.’

The RCGP president is the ceremonial head of the college, and unlike the other Medical Royal Colleges, it is the chair of council who provides the political and professional leadership of the college.

In July, the RCGP announced that London GP Dr Victoria Tzortziou Brown was elected as the next chair of council.

Dr Tzortziou Brown will succeed current chair Professor Kamila Hawthorne and take up office for a three-year term in November.

She trained as a GP in London and becomes the first international medical graduate (IMG) to be elected RCGP chair.

The college also said that following agreement at its annual general meeting in 2024, subject to privy council approval, the titles of officer roles will change ‘in the near future’, with the chair of council becoming president and the president becoming provost.