John Gillies

March 31^st 2011

Professor Nick Foskett

Vice Chancellor

Keele University

Staffordshire

ST5 5BG

Dear Professor Foskett,

RE Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele

As an alumnus of the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele (MA Distinction Medical Ethics and Law 2003), I was very pleased to see that the proposal to close the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele was withdrawn last week.  I have been a general practitioner for 25 years and undertook the course on a part time basis in 2001 on a recommendation from two other doctors and a nurse.  I found the standard of teaching high and subsequently went on to publish three articles in British Journal of General Practice with my tutor Mark Sheehan as well as an occasional paper for the Royal College of General Practitioners on the philosophy of general practice.

 I subsequently used this qualification to develop ethics teaching for under-graduates at the University of Edinburgh and post-graduate GP trainees over the past 7 years.  I am now involved with helping RCGP UK to develop a framework for ethical commissioning.  I believe that this will contribute to establishing the highest ethical standards for the major changes proposed in the NHS in England over the next 2 years.

In summary, without the skills and knowledge that I acquired at my time at Keele and the subsequent networking which this has enabled, none of this would have been possible.  I believe that it also helps me bring a dimension of ethical thinking to my tenure as chair of RCGP Scotland.

I do hope that the plan to close the centre has been completely withdrawn.

With best wishes.

Yours sincerely

Dr John Gillies MA, FRCGP, FRCPE

Chair

RCGP Scotland