Just a GP Diaries from a Career in General Practice

Section 1

1.     Early years

2.     Chess

3.     Medical Student

4.     Junior doctor

Section 2

5.      Practice 1962 -1975

6.      Learning the craft

7.      South West England Faculty

8.      BMA/LMC

Section 3

9.      Journal

10.   Exeter RCGP Publishing

11.   College cabinet

12.   Lane Committee

Section 4

13.   Department/Institute of General Practice

14.   Regional Adviser

15.   South West General Practice Trust

Section 5

16.   Practice 1976-1986

17.   The Medical Annual

18.   Publications Committee

19.   Communications Division

20.   Experiences in the Executive

21.   Consultant Adviser

22.   Downs and Ups of Institutional Life 

Section 6

23.   Chairman of Council

24.   Fellowship by Assessment

25.   Conference of Academic  Organizations

26.   Prison Medicine

27.   Postgraduate Medical School

Section  7

28.   Research Division

29.   JCPTGP

30.   Dentistry

31.   GMC and GDC

32.   Fetzer Institute

33.   Non-executor directorships

34.   Practice 1987-2000

Section 8

35.   PRCGP

36.   Vice-Chairman Academy

37.   Three national meetings

38.   Chairman Academy

39.   Distinction awards

 Section 9

40.   Patient Participation

41.   PIAG/EEC

42.   Heritage Committee

43.   What About the Children?

44.   Nuffield Trust

45.   DH and BMA

Section 10

46.   Unfinished campaign

47.   Last Hurrah

48.   The Practice as a Learning Environment

49.   St Leonard’s Research Practice

50.   Reflections

Appendices

1.       Awards received

2.       Eponymous or equivalent lectures

3.       Publications by DPG’s personal trainees

4.       Medical Annuals

5.       RCGP Exeter publications

6.       Books/booklets written in the Exeter Department/Institute of General Practice

7.       Awards to staff in the St Leonard’s Practice

8.       Syllabus for General Practice

9.       Chairmanships in RCGP

10.   Visitors to  the Practice

11.   People met

12.  Glossary

References

Index

Biography

Sir Denis Pereira Gray worked as a general practitioner for 38 years in the St Leonard’s Medical Practice Exeter, following his father and grandfather. He was President of the Cambridge University Chess Club and has been awarded the gold medal of the Hunterian Society, London, the gold medal of the Royal Institute of Public Health, and honorary doctorates by three British universities. He established the first postgraduate university department of general practice in Europe at the University of Exeter and was later appointed Professor and Director of the Exeter University Postgraduate Medical School, serving for ten years. He was twice elected by the registered medical practitioners in England to the General Medical Council. He has written/edited nine books and has had over 200 articles published in scientific medical journals. Sir Denis has been a member of several Government Committees including the Review of the Abortion Act. He was elected Chairman of Council and later President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Chairman of the JCPTGP, a medical regulatory body, and was Chairman of the Trustees of the Nuffield Trust, a national health policy charity. He was knighted for services to quality assurance in general practice. Sir Denis was Vice-Chairman and then Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges of Britain and Ireland, the first GP ever elected. He is one of 35 British doctors who have been elected to the , of the National Academy of Medicine, Washington, USA. He is currently doing research at the St Leonard’s Research Practice, Exeter, is an Assessor for the Queen’s Award for Higher and Further Education and Patron of the National Association for Patient Participation.

'The autobiography covers [Sir Denis Pereira Gray's] professional career with copious references to the evidence that has driven his clinical practice. There is not much that he has not done ... His exceptional memory, written records, and press cuttings provide rich details, making the book an engaging rather than a difficult read ... Anyone currently working in general practice who is, or aspires to be, an effective influencer should read this to learn what it takes to make the changes to improve health care. It also explains what has often been lost from the institutional memory of organisations – learning from past experience.' - Terry Kemple, retired GP, for BJGP Life

'... covers the huge body of achievements, including many successes and some failures, of a remarkable life in the very frontline of the medical world in this country over many decades ... This book makes abundantly clear just how great a debt we, the public, and indeed the whole medical profession owe to this 'fortunate man'. - St Leonard's News