The British Medical Association (BMA) in Scotland has elected a new chairman, Dr Peter Bennie.
Dr Bennie, 51, a Glasgow-based consultant psychiatrist is a former chairman of the BMA’s representative Body.
He will take over the role from Dr Brian Keighley, a retired GP who held the position for five years.
Dr Bennie graduated from Glasgow University Medical School in 1986 and commenced his training in hospitals in the West of Scotland before taking up a consultant post in Glasgow in 1997, moving to work in Paisley in 2007.
Dr Bennie has served as chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee in both Scotland and the UK. He was also closely involved in negotiating the 2003 consultant contract in Scotland. He is a member of the BMA’s UK Council and in 2012 was appointed vice president of the BMA.
He said: “I am immensely proud to have been elected as chairman of the BMA in Scotland. It is a great honour to represent and lead my profession at such a unique time in Scotland’s constitutional history.
“However, regardless of the outcome of the referendum in September, there are pressing issues in our NHS that must be addressed, especially the future structure of training for doctors and the current recruitment problems across general practice and hospital specialties.”
