Council

Carrie is a consultant ophthalmologist for NHS Tayside and Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee. She served as Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges until 2020 and is Past-President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

Carrie has served on several committees in support of education, training and assessment of healthcare professionals and NHS committees regarding service re-design for medical services. She is a trustee of the Moorfields Eye Charity.  She chaired the Trustee Board of the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership until the end of 2023, and she was a member of the council of the University of Exeter.

Carrie was specialty ophthalmology advisor to the Scottish Chief Medical Officer for over a decade and led the Scottish Eyecare Workstream, ceasing this role in June 2022. She was the clinical co-lead for the ophthalmology ‘Getting It Right First Time’ programme and the Eye Care Recovery and Transformation Programme for NHS England/Improvement. She was also chair of the multiprofessional subcommittee of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists and was Associate Dean for Less than Full Time Training for East Scotland between 2007 and 2022.

In 2010, Vanessa was appointed Director General of the Bar Standards Board, the regulatory body for barristers in England and Wales, retiring in January 2020.  In 2019 she was appointed as a lay member of the House of Lords Conduct Committee and in 2022 as a Decision Maker for complaints about Ministers or former Ministers, Scottish Government. Vanessa was  a non-executive director on the Board at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal from  2018 – 2024, where she also chaired  its Audit and Risk Committee and sat on the Advisory Board for the King’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer.  She has been Chair of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission since 1 January 2025.

Keith has extensive experience in higher education having been head of the medical school and Pro Vice Chancellor at Swansea University.  Keith is a Board Member (non-executive director) of Swansea Bay University Health Board. Keith has previously worked in Welsh Government heading up health and care research, and is a former elected Chair in Wales and Vice-President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Deepa currently holds Non-Executive directorships with the Public Health Agency NI and is a Member of the Professional Conduct Committee for the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.

As a TEDx speaker and thought leader she regularly speaks on the intersection of digital transformation, technical innovation, health, inclusion, ethics, bias, data, artificial intelligence and creativity, all with a value basis firmly grounded in technology for good, equity, diversity, inclusion with positive social impact. Deepa is author of the first report on race discrimination with policy recommendations for the public sector in Northern Ireland, ‘Out of the Shadows’.

Deepa has an MSc in European Social Policy Analysis, Erasmus at Bath, Roskilde and Tilburg universities, a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Westminster College Oxford and a BSc Social Policy and Administration at the London School of Economics.

Douglas was Scottish Water’s chief executive for over 10 years until stepping down in 2023. He was previously Scottish Water’s finance and regulation director and worked in the water sector in Scotland for 27 years.

As a chartered accountant and someone who has worked in heavily regulated environments, he believes strongly in the power of effective regulation in contributing to better outcomes. Having run a water company whose primary purpose is to protect public health for the people of Scotland, Douglas is delighted to be a member of the GMC and feels a close affinity with its role in protecting patients.

Olamide has played a pivotal role in advancing healthcare equity, including authoring a report on racial bias in pulse oximetry during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work garnered national attention and led to a government review of racial bias in medical devices.

She has non-executive experience as a Council Member and Trustee of the Medical Women’s Federation and has served on a GMC Advisory Board. Her efforts remain focused on fostering inclusive environments, championing equity and improving opportunities for underrepresented groups in healthcare.

He was Medical Director of Primary Care for NHS England and NHS Improvement until 31 January 2023. He was formerly Medical Director of NHS England Lancashire and Greater Manchester as well as Director of Commissioning for Lancashire.

A Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners, Raj was a GP in Greater Manchester for thirty years and has held senior clinical leadership positions in the NHS, locally, regionally and nationally since 1997 as well as a GP advisor role at the Department of Health. He is a graduate of Manchester University Medical School and sat on the General Assembly of the university. Raj also holds a visiting professorship at the University of Greater Manchester.

Raj was awarded an MBE in The Queen’s Birthday Honours 2019 for services to healthcare.

Suzanne is the Chair of Royal Trinity Hospice, a Vice Chair at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Chair of the London Policing Ethics Panel, and a member of the National Police Ethics Committee.

Suzanne is also a Visiting Professor at Canterbury Christchurch University

Suzanne has in the past been actively involved in quality assurance of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, working with Health Education England and its predecessor organisations, universities in the UK, overseas education ministries, and as an Associate with the GMC.

Suzanne was Chair of the national charity Action against Medical Accidents for five years before joining Council.

In addition, between 2018-2020 she was commissioned by the then Home Secretary to carry out an independent review into the Home Office and its handling of events leading up to what became known as the Windrush Scandal and authored the Windrush Lessons Learned Report, which was presented to Parliament in 2020, and the follow-up progress report in 2022.

Wendy is currently a Non-executive Director of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and Chair of its Remuneration and People Committee. She is also a member of the parliamentary Independent Expert Panel.

Other roles include being a member of the Advisory Board for the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Universities’ Close the Gap Advisory Board, and a former member of the Institute for Government’s Commission on the Civil Service.

Alison is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and was an elected international representative and then Vice- President. During her time as Vice-President, she set up the ‘supporting our doctors’ service for Members and Fellows of the RCOG.

She is currently a national speciality adviser (NSA) in Obstetrics for NHSE/I . Her clinical interests include pelvic floor problems, childbirth trauma, maternal medicine and complex pregnancies.