Personal Profile
He has had a life-long interest in imaging and was treasurer, secretary and chairman of the British Nuclear Cardiology Society as well as Treasurer of the European Cardiac Society equivalent. Whilst in Glasgow he put these skills to good use and developed a modern tomographic service in all three locations. He was also a principle operator of a novel (at the time) colour flow echo machine which was capable of transoesophageal and intra-cardiac imaging (ICE).
When appointed as Consultant Cardiologist in Aberdeen he enhanced coronary intervention introducing several innovations as well as developing the electrophysiology service by the appointment of a specialist colleague. He was the first person to implant a special heart failure pacemaker in Scotland.
He then became interested in clinical management on the basis that if the clinicians did not lead here then non-clinical managers would do so leading to a sub-optimal service. He was therefore fortunate in progressing from the Lead Service Clinician to Deputy Medical Director of NHS Grampian. As Lead Clinician he oversaw the appointment of additional key colleagues (electro-physiology and heart failure), a major general service development with several new colleagues following a review by the British Cardiac Society and the appointment of 2 senior academic consultants. As Managed Clinical Network Chair with Milne Weir (now Head of the Scottish Ambulance Service) innovative and trailblazing community cardiology services were established which continue in an enhanced format today. He then became the Clinical Lead for the North of Scotland and amongst many achievements was the catalyst for Inverness becoming a coronary intervention centre with the associated considerable benefits to the population. He then reverted back to the Acute sector and became Medical Director to the Acute Sector then Deputy Medical Director to NHS Grampian. The latter post has widened his remit to include being Deputy Caldicott Guardian, Chair of NHSG Clinical Risk Meeting and most recently being Chair of a group looking to improve outcomes for lady’s with ovarian cancer.
