Former RCGP President leads award winners at this year’s
AGM
17 November 2006
Dr Lotte Newman, former College President, is to be presented with
an award for her outstanding contribution to the work of the Royal
College of General Practitioners (RCGP).
Dr Newman will receive the Foundation Council Award alongside Dr
James Willis who will be presented with The George Abercrombie
Award and Dr Rebecca Whitnall, winner of this year’s Fraser Rose
Medal.
Dr Newman has been involved with the work of the RCGP for most
of her general practice career. The daughter of two GPs, she
trained at Westminster Medical School, and worked as a
single-handed GP in Hampstead while bringing up her four
children. Her practice grew steadily from one to six partners
and eventually developed into two practice centres.
Dedicated to GP education, Dr Newman made her practice a
teaching practice, accepting GP registrars from both London medical
schools and from overseas. She has been a strong advocate of
the College’s entry exam, and was an examiner for many years.
Throughout her career, Dr Newman has always been involved in
promoting women in medicine and is an active member of the Medical
Women’s Federation, of which she was President in its 70th
Anniversary Year.
The George Abercrombie Award will be presented to Dr James
Willis, a GP from Hants, for his literary contributions to general
practice. Throughout his career and into his retirement Dr
Willis has continued to write academic papers for medical journals
and books for general practice.
Two of his best-known and highly acclaimed works are The Paradox
of Progress aimed at boosting the morale of GPs as it ‘rekindles
the spirit that some have lost and explores the problem retaining
respect for human values in an increasingly systemized world’ and
Friends in Low Places which aims to ‘restore the balance of human
and technological values’.
The Fraser Rose Medal is awarded annually to the candidate who
has achieved the highest overall score on the College’s membership
exam – the MRCGP. This year’s winner is London GP Dr Rebecca
Whitnall.
Born into a medical family and the first of a third generation
of women doctors, Dr Whitnall achieved outstanding results against
12 examination criteria including consultation skills, clinical
care and preventative medicine.
Dr Whitnall attended University College London Medical School
(UCL) and achieved a first class degree in Physiology with Basic
Medical Sciences in 1998. In 2001 she graduated from UCL with
honours, gaining distinctions in medicine and obstetrics and
gynaecology. She has just completed her final year of
training at Paxton Green Group Surgery in Dulwich. Since
finishing her training in September she decided to stay on at the
practice as a GP locum.
Drs Newman, Whitnall and Willis will receive their awards at the
RCGP Annual General Meeting at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel in
London on Friday 17 November from 1.30pm.
For details of all of this year’s award winners, fellowships and
honorary fellowships please see the RCGP website.
Ends
Press contact: RCGP Press Office 020 7344 3137/36/35 or email
press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes to editors
The presentations will be made at an awards ceremony on Friday 17
November from 1.30pm at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel, Victoria,
London. Photos will be available on the following Monday.
The Foundation Council Award
The winner of the Foundation Council Award is presented with a
silver gavel on an ebony block. The award is in honour of
those doctors who established the RCGP in 1952 It is one of the
RCGP’s most important awards and is given for special meritorious
work in connection with the College. Dr Newman served as
President of the College from 1994-1997
The George Abercrombie Award
The George Abercrombie Award is named after the first Chairman of
the RCGP Council and its fifth President. Presented from time to
time for special meritorious work in general practice, special
consideration is given to contributions to the literature of
general practice internationally. The works of Dr Willis
include:
The Paradox in Progress. Willis J, 152 pages, ISBN:
9781857750638, Radcliffe Publishing, UK, 1998
Friends in Low Places. Willis J, 232 Pages ISBN: 9781857754049,
Radcliffe Publishing, UK, 2001
The Fraser Rose Medal
The Fraser Rose Medal is awarded annually to the candidate who
achieves the highest overall mark in the MRCGP exam. Dr Rebecca
Withnall (nee Wilson) is a GP locum at the Paxton Green Group
Surgery in The Health Centre, 1 Alleyn Park, London SE21
8AU
The Royal College of General Practitioners is the largest
membership organisation in the United Kingdom solely for GPs. It
aims to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general
medical practice and to act as the “voice” of GPs on issues
concerned with education, training, research and clinical
standards. Founded in 1952, the RCGP has over 25,000 members who
are committed to improving patient care, developing their own
skills and promoting general practice as a discipline. www.rcgp.org.uk