NHS Practitioner Health has announced that Professor Dame Clare Gerada has been appointed a Life Peer in the House of Lords, in recognition of her distinguished career in medicine and her long-standing advocacy for mental health and clinician wellbeing.
With decades of service in psychiatry, general practice, and healthcare leadership, Dame Gerada has played a central role in improving the wellbeing of NHS staff. Her appointment is expected to provide a strong platform to advance policies promoting sustainable and compassionate care within the health service.
In a statement, NHS Practitioner Health said that Dame Gerada “embodies the values and mission that underpin our work at Practitioner Health,” adding that her new role “offers a timely and influential platform to amplify the voice of the NHS workforce.”
Lucy Warner, Chief Executive of NHS Practitioner Health, expressed pride in Dame Gerada's achievements. “At Practitioner Health, we are immensely proud of what [Dame Clare] has achieved in her career, as well as her continual dedication to her profession and the wider workforce. Thanks to her determination and drive, thousands of clinicians have been helped, and many careers and lives have been saved.
"We know [Dame Gerada] will continue to push forward the agenda that our workforce is the driving force of the NHS, and that healthy and happy staff will bring about the best results for all of us,” she said.
Dame Gerada currently serves as Co-Chair of the NHS Assembly and President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). Over the course of her 35-year career, she has championed initiatives to support the mental health of NHS workers and strengthen wellbeing frameworks across the healthcare system.
She was the first female Chair of the RCGP in 50 years and has held senior roles with the Department of Health and Social Care, as well as a seat on the Council of the British Medical Association.
Her career has been marked by multiple honours recognising her contributions to medicine and public health. In 2000, she received an MBE for services to medicine and substance misuse, followed by a damehood in 2020. She became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 2008 and an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2013.
Main Image:
Written By
Nicole Zammit
When she’s not writing articles at work or poetry at home, you’ll find her taking long walks in the countryside, pumping iron at the gym, caring for her farm animals, or spending quality time with family and friends. In short, she’s always on the go, drawing inspiration from the little things around her, and constantly striving to make the ordinary extraordinary.
