College announces two new Vice Chairs

The College is pleased to announce the election of Professor Margaret Ikpoh and Dr Thomas Patel-Campbell as its two new members of the Council Officer Team from November 2024.

Professor Ikpoh has been re-elected to the role of Vice Chair Professional Standards, Training and Development and Dr Patel-Campbell will take up the post of Vice Chair Finance and Member Value. 

The role of Vice Chair Finance and Member Value, previously called the Honorary Treasurer and currently held by Dr Steve Mowle, has been renamed to reflect an increasing emphasis on the value and services provided by the College as the ‘professional home’ for its 54,000 members.

Professor Ikpoh is a GP Partner at Holderness Health. She is the practice lead for research and has had previous roles with the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber as a research champion for First5 GPs and AITs.

She is also the former Associate Director for Primary Care for Hull York Medical School and is a GP Trainer. In 2021 she was voted the Fellow of the year at the RCGP Inspire Awards and in 2022, was voted one of HSJ’s top 50 most influential Black, Asian and minority ethnic figures in health.

She is the former co-Chair for the regional Primary Care Workforce Group with NHS England & Improvement for the North-East and Yorkshire Regional People Board and is still an active member. She is the current NIHR National Settings lead for Primary Care 

Dr Patel-Campbell graduated from UCL with a medical degree and BSc in Infection in 2011 and completed his GP training in north London in 2016. He moved to York to be closer to his family, taking up a role with Haxby Group as a salaried GP, and was subsequently appointed a partner. More recently, he has been appointed as Haxby Group’s Director of Clinical Operations. He has clinical interests in contraceptive medicine and respiratory medicine, with a particular focus on asthma diagnosis. 

His non-clinical interests include leadership and digital opportunities within general practice, and he was appointed the Digital Transformation Lead for the local GP federation last year.

He has been involved with the College since 2019, initially through his local Humber and the Ridings Faculty as Faculty Treasurer and Council representative, and more recently as Chair. He was elected by Council to serve on RCGP Trustee Board in 2023.

The appointments were voted on by College Council which is made up of nationally elected members and representatives of the College’s local Faculties from across the UK. 

One other candidate put themselves forward for each role:  

• Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah (Vice Chair, Professional Standards, Training and Development)
• Dr Shamila Wanninayake (Vice Chair, Finance and Member Value) 

Professor Ikpoh and Dr Patel-Campbell will serve in the Council Officer Team for a term of three years.

College Chief Executive and Returning Officer Chris Askew said: ‘I am delighted that Margaret has been re-elected and Thomas elected to our Officer team from November and look forward to working with them. They are both excellent GPs with a lot to offer and I know that they will work their hardest to ensure that we continue to deliver against our charitable objects and provide our members at all career stages with excellent levels of service and the best value possible from their College membership.

“I would also like to thank Selva and Shamila for putting themselves forward to stand for these important roles.”

Further information

RCGP press office: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editors

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 54,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.