NHS Grampian hails Royal College presidencies

NHS Grampian is in the relatively rare position of employing not one, but two Royal College presidents.

Dr Bernie Croal was elected president of the Royal College of Pathologists last May, formally taking up office in December. Dr Croal is a consultant chemical pathologist at ARI, with over 25 years’ experience specialising in intravenous nutritional support, demand optimisation strategies, and the development of new biomarkers.

Prof Steve Turner was elected to be president of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health in December, taking up office last month. Alongside his clinical role, Steve is active in developing integrated models of scheduled and unscheduled care for children and young people. His research interests are early origins of disease, monitoring asthma, and analysing routinely acquired health care data.

Steve said: “It would be unusual for some of the largest healthcare organisations in the UK to employ two Royal College presidents, so for NHS Grampian to be in this position proves we are definitely punching above our weight. These two appointments ensure that the perspective of clinicians from the North of Scotland is being shared with colleagues across the UK.”

Bernie added: “It’s an honour to hold a post like this, voted for by your peers. A key focus for my term of office is encouraging colleagues to get involved in the work of their Royal College. There are huge challenges in healthcare at the moment and the work of the Colleges is crucial to ensure we can train and assess enough Consultants, maintain standards and provide guidance that will be so important for service delivery in the future.”

There are 24 Royal Colleges and Faculties in the UK. Each is responsible for setting standards for training and clinical practice in their own clinical area and influencing NHS policy.

Professor Nick Fluck, NHS Grampian’s Medical Director, said: “I am delighted Bernie and Steve have been elected to lead their respective Colleges; it is testament to the calibre of people we have working across Grampian that we have two Royal College Presidents in our midst."