Maureen Baker
Introduction
Dr Maureen Baker CBE FRCGP (born 20 September 1958) is a Scottish medical doctor. She was Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) from November 2013 to November 2016.
Education
Baker was born in Motherwell on 20 September 1958 to Helen and William Murphy. She attended Holy Cross High School in Hamilton.After school she studied medicine at the University of Dundee, graduating with MB, ChB in 1981. She then attended the University of Nottingham, obtaining a DM.
Career
She worked as a general practitioner (GP) in Lincoln from 1985−2000.
She joined Connecting for Health in 2007. She is Clinical Director for Patient Safety at the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC).
In December 2013 the Health Service Journal listed her as the 26th most powerful person in the National Health Service, in 2014 she was listed in the journal's top 100 clinical leaders and in 2015 she was as the 39th most influential person in NHS (England).
She has repeatedly described the crisis in General Practice, acknowledging that some problems have been attributed to the "pull of London and the South-east". She has commented on the need to be able to improve the distribution of the medical workforce, suggesting that reasonable incentives might help attract doctors to some areas.
She was Honorary Secretary (1999-2009) and Council Chair (November 2013 - November 2016) of Royal College of General Practitioners. She was succeeded as Chair by Helen Stokes-Lampard.
She married Peter Baker in 1984, they have two daughters.
Awards and honours
She was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to medicine.
In 2009, she received the RCGP Foundation Council Award for meritorious services to general practice.