Gabriel Scally (physician)
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Gabriel John Scally
FFPHM The Faculty of Public Health (FPH) is a public health association in the United Kingdom established as a registered charity. It is the standard setting body for public health specialists within the United Kingdom, setting standards for training ...
(born September 1954) is an Irish public health physician and a former regional director of public health (RDPH) for the southwest of England. He is a visiting professor of public health at the
University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...
and is a member of the
Independent SAGE The Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, better known as Independent SAGE, is a group of scientists, unaffiliated to government (although some are also in the government SAGE), that publishes advice aimed toward the Government ...
group, formed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He has also been chair of the trustees of the
Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...
. Previously he was a professor of public health and planning, and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Healthy Urban Environments, both at the
University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...
(UWE). He was president of the Section of Epidemiology and Public Health of the
Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...
, a position he took in 2017. Prior to his roles in
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
, Scally trained in
general practice General practice is personal, family, and community-orientated comprehensive primary care that includes diagnosis, continues over time and is anticipatory as well as responsive. Definitions A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a consu ...
. He spent his early career in Northern Ireland as chief administrative medical officer and director of public health for the Eastern Health and Social Services Board, where he contributed to the founding of a young people's sexual health service. After moving to England, he led several inquiries into serious
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 ...
clinical failures including pathology in Swindon, breast screening in Exeter and abuse in Winterbourne. He is credited, along with Sir Liam Donaldson, as defining
clinical governance Clinical governance is a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within the National Health Service (NHS) and private sector health care. Clinical governance became important in health care after the Bristo ...
, a concept developed following high-profile cases, which included the
Bristol heart scandal The Bristol heart scandal occurred in England during the 1980s and 1990s. At the Bristol Royal Infirmary, babies died at high rates after cardiac surgery. An inquiry found "staff shortages, a lack of leadership, ... unit ... 'simply not up to ...
, the Shipman Inquiry and the
Alder Hey organs scandal The Alder Hey organs scandal in Liverpool, England, involved the unauthorised removal, retention, and disposal of human tissue, including children's organs, during the period 1981 to 1996. Organs were retained in more than 2,000 pots"Pot", in ...
. Scally resigned as RDPH in 2012, and was appointed as an associate fellow at the
Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...
, and as a visiting professor at the University of Bristol and UWE. In 2018, he assisted in an inquiry into the deaths of children from
hyponatremia Hyponatremia or hyponatraemia is a low concentration of sodium in the Serum (blood), blood. It is generally defined as a sodium concentration of less than 135 mmol/L (135 mEq/L), with severe hyponatremia being below 120 mEq/L. Symp ...
in Northern Ireland and led an independent inquiry into the
CervicalCheck cancer scandal The CervicalCheck cancer scandal first emerged in 2018 and involved several women in Ireland suing the Health Service Executive (HSE) after they received incorrect smear test results for cervical cancer. Background In 2011, Vicky Phelan, a ...
and the failures of
cervical screening Cervical cancer screening is a medical screening test designed to identify risk of cervical cancer. Cervical screening may involve looking for viral DNA, and/or to identify abnormal, potentially precancerous cells within the cervix as well as cel ...
in the
Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
. In 2020, he co-authored an editorial in the ''
British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...
'' questioning the UK's response to COVID-19.


Early life and education

Gabriel Scally was born in September 1954 in Belfast,Scally, Gabriel (2019
"Curriculum Vitae"
www.ihrdni.org. May 2019
where his father Brian Scally was a consultant psychiatrist at the
Muckamore Abbey Hospital The Muckamore Abbey Hospital is a health facility on Abbey Road, Muckamore, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is managed by the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust. History The facility, which is located just south of a ruined Augustinian pr ...
. He attended
St Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School St Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School (St Mary's CBGS) is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. History The origins of the school can be traced to St Mary's School which was established in Divis Street by ...
before gaining admission to study medicine at
Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
."Prof Gabriel Scally MB MSc DSc FRCP MRCGP FFPH"World Federation of Public Health Associations
/ref> As a medical student in 1977, he visited Chile on behalf of the
International Union of Students The International Union of Students (IUS) was a worldwide nonpartisan association of university student organizations. The IUS was the umbrella organization for 155 such students' organizations across 112 countries and Territory (administrative ...
. In 1978 he graduated from
Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
before completing his master's degree in
community medicine Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
(later called public health) at the
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine. The institu ...
in 1982.


Northern Ireland

Scally completed his early medical training in Northern Ireland. Prior to his roles in public health, he worked in general practice. For four years from 1989 he was director of public health for the Eastern Health and Social Services Board and chief administrative officer in Northern Ireland."Four Decades of Public Health; Northern Ireland’s health boards 1973 – 2009
pp. 28–29
Despite opposition, Scally contributed to the founding of a young people's sexual health service. With reference to health in Northern Ireland, he had voiced his concerns in the Opsahl inquiry that
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
had set back significant time and discussion about important health determinants because of attention diverted to media and politics. This, in turn, caused "policy deficit", a term he coined.


England

In 1993 Scally moved to England to take up the post of regional director of public health (RDPH) first for South East Thames and later for the South and West Regional Health Authority.“Written submission from Professor Gabriel Scally
“The role of local authorities in health issues”, published by House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee. p. 62
In 1998, together with Sir Liam Donaldson in a paper in the ''British Medical Journal'', he defined
clinical governance Clinical governance is a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within the National Health Service (NHS) and private sector health care. Clinical governance became important in health care after the Bristo ...
as:
A framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for continually improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish.
The concept evolved in response to high-profile cases which included the
Bristol heart scandal The Bristol heart scandal occurred in England during the 1980s and 1990s. At the Bristol Royal Infirmary, babies died at high rates after cardiac surgery. An inquiry found "staff shortages, a lack of leadership, ... unit ... 'simply not up to ...
, the Shipman Inquiry and the
Alder Hey organs scandal The Alder Hey organs scandal in Liverpool, England, involved the unauthorised removal, retention, and disposal of human tissue, including children's organs, during the period 1981 to 1996. Organs were retained in more than 2,000 pots"Pot", in ...
. In light of the increasing number of public health personnel not trained in medicine, he advocated that they also be subject to statutory regulation. The concept of 'clinical governance' also featured in the ''British Medical Journal'' issue celebrating the NHS’s 50th anniversary. Subsequently, during Scally's position as RDPH in England, he became involved in a number of clinical failure inquiries, including pathology in Swindon, breast screening in Exeter and abuse in Winterbourne. He also led public health improvement programmes including Smokefree South West and Healthy Schools Plus and the creation of the Office of Sexual Health. In March 2012, in opposition to the then Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley's, plans for the NHS, Scally resigned from England's Department of Health as a consequence of the then Conservative-Liberal Democrats' coalition government's health policies. Subsequently, he was appointed as an associate fellow at the
Institute for Public Policy Research The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) is a Progressivism, progressive think tank based in London. It was founded in 1988 by Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, Lord Hollick and John Eatwell, Baron Eatwell, Lord Eatwell, and is an independen ...
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
, and as a visiting chair at the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England, where he was also director the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Healthy Urban Environments. In 2013, on the subject of food adulteration, he said that it was not a new problem. He was also Chair of Trustees of the
Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...
. In 2018, he assisted with a report following the inquiry into the deaths of children from
hyponatraemia Hyponatremia or hyponatraemia is a low concentration of sodium in the blood. It is generally defined as a sodium concentration of less than 135 mmol/L (135  mEq/L), with severe hyponatremia being below 120 mEq/L. Symptoms can be ab ...
in Northern Ireland.


Cervical screening

Beginning in May 2018, Scally led an independent
inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...
into the failures of
cervical screening Cervical cancer screening is a medical screening test designed to identify risk of cervical cancer. Cervical screening may involve looking for viral DNA, and/or to identify abnormal, potentially precancerous cells within the cervix as well as cel ...
and
CervicalCheck BowelScreen, BreastCheck and CervicalCheck are cancer screening programmes organised by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. BowelScreen BowelScreen is the national Cancer screening#Colon (colorectal) cancer, bowel ...
in the Republic of Ireland, following an audit which had revealed potential errors in women diagnosed with
cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...
. His findings, including his concerns of the attitudes of some
oncologists Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος ('' ...
, were reported in the ''Scally Report'' in 2018.Scally, Gabriel (September 2018
"Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme"
Final Report


COVID-19

With reference to the Cheltenham Festival of 2020, which began 10 March 2020, shortly before announcement of the pandemic, Scally, said the following month that “I think it's very tempting to link he seeming high number of COVID-19 cases in Gloucestershireto the Cheltenham Festival. Really, from a health point of view, tshould have been stopped in advance". In May 2020, alongside Bobbie Jacobson from
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
and
Kamran Abbasi Kamran Abbasi is a Pakistani-English physician, professor, editor and author. He the editor-in-chief of the ''The BMJ, British Medical Journal'' (''BMJ''), a physician, visiting professor at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Impe ...
from the ''
British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...
'', Scally co-authored an editorial in the ''British Medical Journal'' titled "The UK's public health response to covid-19". They described the UK's response to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
as "too little, too late, too flawed", with no adequate plan for community-based case-finding, testing, and
contact tracing In public health, contact tracing is the process of identifying people who may have been exposed to an infected person ("contacts") and subsequent collection of further data to assess transmission. By tracing the contacts of infected individua ...
. Their findings were published in the ''
New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'', and discussed in
Medscape Medscape is a website providing access to medical information for clinicians and medical scientists; the organization also provides continuing education for physicians and other health professionals. It references medical journal articles, Con ...
, the ''
British Journal of Social Psychology The ''British Journal of Social Psychology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. It publishes original papers on subjects like social cognition, attitudes, group proces ...
'' and the '' Practice Nurse''. Former director of public health, Marie Armitage, described the editorial as a "clear, concise analysis and call to action". In the same year he became a member of the
Independent SAGE The Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, better known as Independent SAGE, is a group of scientists, unaffiliated to government (although some are also in the government SAGE), that publishes advice aimed toward the Government ...
committee. In 2020 he expressed concerns about the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland in the newspaper ''
Barron's ''Barron's'' (stylized in all caps) is an American weekly magazine and newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corp, since 1921. Founded as ''Barron's National Financial Weekly'' in 1921 by Clarence W. Barron (1855–19 ...
'', the government's plans to end
Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...
(PHE), and the implementation of Operation Moonshot. In Northern ireland during the spring of 2021, as venues and workplaces reopened, he called for ventilation certificates to be introduced.


Awards and honours

In 2002, he delivered 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 ...
' Milroy lecture, titled "The very pests of society’: the Irish and 150 years of public health in England", later published in ''
Clinical Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
''. In 2017 he was appointed president of the epidemiology and public health section of the
Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...
. In 2021 he was noted to be its past president.


Selected publications


Articles

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Books

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References


Further reading

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External links


Gabriel Scally
Publications in the ''British Medical Journal'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Scally, Gabriel Living people 1954 births People educated at St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Grammar School, Belfast Alumni of the University of London Academics of the University of Bristol Fellows of the Faculty of Public Health National Health Service people Medical doctors from Belfast Irish public health doctors Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Irish general practitioners Academics of the University of the West of England, Bristol