Dame Clare Mary Louise Francis Gerada, Lady Wessely (born November 1959) is a London-based

general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...

who is a former President of the

Royal College of General Practitioners The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners (GPs/ Family Physicians/ Primary Care Physicians) in the United Kingdom. The RCGP represents and supports GPs on key issues including ...

(RCGP) and a former chairperson of the RCGP Council (2010–2013). She has professional interests in mental health, substance misuse, and gambling problems. Gerada is a convenor of the cross-party political movement,

More United More United was a cross-party political movement in the United Kingdom. It described itself as a "tech-driven political startup" that supported candidates regardless of party affiliation. The movement advocated for public service investment, de ...

. She is a patron of

Humanists UK Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent Irreligion in the United Kingdom, non-religious people in the UK throug ...

Early life

Gerada was born in Nigeria although her father came from Malta; the family moved to the United Kingdom in 1963. Her father was a general practitioner. He opened a single-handed practice in

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

Medical career

Gerada qualified in medicine at

UCL Medical School UCL Medical School is the medical school of University College London (UCL), a public research university in London, England. The school provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes and also has a medical ...

in 1983. She then trained in

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

and worked at the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

in south London. She qualified as a GP in 1992 and started work in general practice in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, London, the same year. She cites her main interests of work as being around mental health and substance misuse and has spent over her professional career leading the development of primary care substance (alcohol, drugs) services in England. In 2000, she established the Substance Misuse Unit at the RCGP. She has also been Director of Primary Care for the National Clinical Governance Team and Senior Medical Advisor to the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their o ...

, and is medical director of the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

Practitioner Health Programme, which provides confidential medical advice for doctors and dentists. She is one of the partners in the

Hurley Group The Hurley Group registered with the CQC as the Hurley Clinic Partnership, is a large provider of primary care services in London, one of only three organisations in England which served more than 100,000 patients in 2014. As of 2025, it runs 2 ...

which runs a number of GP practices and walk-in centres across London. In November 2010 she became chairperson of the Council of the

for a three years term of office. She was the college's first female chairperson for 50 years, the previous female chairperson having been Dr

Annis Gillie Dame Katharine Annis Calder Gillie DBE FRCP (Lond) FRCGP (3 August 1900 in Eastbourne– 10 April 1985 in Bledington, Oxfordshire) was a British physician and medical researcher. She was President of the Royal College of General Practitioners ...

. In September 2013 she was appointed as the chairperson of Clinical Board, Primary Care Transformation, NHS England (London Region), to take up the position the following month. She resigned from this position in April 2015 so she could speak out against what she calls the Conservatives' "desperate quest for privatisation". In April 2016, she was elected to the council of the Council of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

(BMA). She established the Practitioner Health Programme to support general practitioners, dentists and other health professionals with mental health and associated issues. In March 2019 The

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care providers in England. It ...

rated the service outstanding. In September 2016 she was named as one of the Liberal Democrats' "new Beveridge group" of advisers. She had been a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party until the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, was a referendum that took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar under the provisions o ...

. In March 2019 she was appointed co-chair, with Sir

Chris Ham Sir Chris Ham (born 15 May 1951), is a health policy academic who started life as a political scientist. He was chief executive of the King's Fund from 2010 to 2018. He was professor of health policy and management at University of Birmingham' ...

, of the forum to implement the NHS's long-term strategy. In 2019, she established the Primary Care Gambling Service, whose aims are to provide treatment to people with gambling problems. Since 2020 she has been chair of the charity Doctors in Distress, which aims to reduce suicides amongst doctors and other health care workers. It was set up after the suicide of cardiologist Dr Jagdip Sidhu, in 2018. It exists with the goal of zero suicides amongst doctors by 2025. "DiD have many laudable ways of reaching this target but we have a most urgent priority which is to create a network of facilitated therapeutic spaces where doctors can talk about the emotional impact of their work, gaining support from each other, in a safe, non-stigmatising environment." She was a non executive director of

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises University College Hospital, University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, the UCH Macmillan Cancer C ...

until March 2021 Gerada was appointed in April 2021 as an Independent Advisor to address Governance and Clinical Quality to her first role within the private hospital sector with Cygnet Healthcare, an independent provider of mental health services that had acquired Whorlton Hall shortly before an undercover investigation by BBC Panorama in 2019 filmed vulnerable patients being abused. In August 2021, she was elected as RCGP president, succeeding Amanda Howe, and taking up the role on 20 November 2021 for a two-year term. In 2023, she was appointed independent Non-Executive Director to Jersey Health and Care Board. She is on the Board of UK

Biobank A biobank is a type of biorepository that stores biological samples (usually human) for use in research. Biobanks have become an important resource in medical research, supporting many types of contemporary research like genomics and personalized ...

Media appearances

* In February 2012 she appeared in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series ''

Great Lives ''Great Lives'' is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the re ...

'', nominating

Vera Brittain Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...

. * In February 2013 she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

. * On 29 March 2013, she appeared on

s '

Any Questions? ''Any Questions?'' is a British topical discussion programme "in which a panel of personalities from the worlds of politics, media, and elsewhere are posed questions by the audience". It is typically broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Fridays at 20: ...

' which was broadcast from St. George's Chapel, Chatham. * On 13 May 2013 she debated the NHS with Chris Skidmore MP on BBC's ''

Daily Politics ''Daily Politics'' is a BBC Television programme which aired between 6 January 2003 and 24 July 2018, presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn. ''Daily Politics'' took an in-depth review of the daily events in both Westminster and other areas a ...

'' show. * She was named as one of the "top 500 Influential Britons" by

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

and

Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company and publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John ...

in January 2014, and number 4 in Health. * On 19 January 2023 she appeared on the BBC '' Question Time'' panel. * In 2024, she debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe with “50 Minutes to Save the NHS," a comedy show promoted as such. She performed 17 shows over 16 days alongside her co-presenter, Dr. Phil Hammond. All proceeds were donated to Doctors in Distress.

Personal life

Gerada is married to Sir Simon Wessely, a professor of psychiatry. He was knighted in 2013. She was one of the first people in the UK to publicly self-isolate when she contracted

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

during a trip to New York in March 2020. She described it as the 'worst illness I've ever had'. She gave an interview from home to '' Good Morning Britain'', which entertained viewers when she was interrupted by her phone and her dog.

Awards and honours

* Fellow of the

* Member and Honorary Fellow of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

* Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

. * 2012, Honorary member of Malta's National Order of Merit. *2015, Honorary Fellowship University of London *2017, William Pickles Medal, Royal College of General Practitioners *2018, Doubleday Award: contribution to patient involvement. * 2019, Royal Society of Medicine Wall of Honour * 2020, DBE Queens Birthday Honours, Services to Medicine and Mental Illness. * 2020, Association of Anaesthetists Award * 2021, Medical Professional Liability Association Humanitarian Award * 2022, Life Fellow of the Institute of Group Analysis * 2022, British International Doctors Association (BIDA) Special Award * 2023, Hon Doctorate, Royal College Surgeons of Ireland * 2023, Hon Fellowship, Royal College Public Health * 2024, Visiting Professor Institute of Medicine, University of Bolton * 2024, Medal for Moral Impact. Institute of Medical Ethics Gerada was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2000 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 19 June 2000 to celebrate the Queen's Official Birthday in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: Australia (12 June), New Zealand (13 June),New ZealandThe Queen's Birthday Honours 2000(13 June 2000), ' ...

for service to medicine and to drug misusers and

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to general practice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerada, Clare 1959 births Living people British general practitioners British people of Maltese descent British women medical doctors Alumni of the UCL Medical School Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Wives of knights