It seems GPs have had little time for NICE recently – but Professor Haslam is trying to change that. In the past year he set up a new reference panel, encouraging GPs to sign up and take the opportunity to ‘tell us if our guidelines need improving’ through emailed questions or feedback requests.
The re-appointed chair of the institute was ‘thrilled’ this year to receive a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for services to NHS leadership.
Surprisingly, the former RCGP chair doesn’t cite this as his favourite moment – that is reserved for when he was asked to meet and address groups of medical students and potential GP leaders at the start of their careers.
He says their ‘enthusiasm, altruism, energy and values is hugely encouraging for the future of general practice’.
Professor Haslam, who began his career as a GP in Cambridgeshire, has previously been awarded a CBE for services to medicine and healthcare, and was named by the Sunday Times as one of the 500 most influential and inspirational people in the UK.
He has thanked his wife for being ‘extraordinarily supportive’ of his ‘bizarre career’ over the years.
In the year to come, Professor Haslam will be focusing on governance and strategy at NICE, with a particular focus on issues such as shared decision making and being genuinely patient centred.
That said, perhaps his most noteworthy announcement this year has been his revelation (see below) that all his speeches as RCGP chair contained a hidden tribute…
Why influential
An optimistic GP with huge sway in the world of clinical guidance
What others say
‘You would have to ask them!’
Random fact
‘I managed to get a different quote from Bob Dylan into every lecture or presentation I gave as chair of the RCGP. Pointless, but fun (for me)’
