Obituary: Dr Chris Jowett 19 August 1952 – 27 May 2017
Last month we lost Dr Chris Jowett, the treasurer of our board, former vice-chair of Hillingdon LMC and a prolific advocate for London general practice for over three decades. This obituary is written by Dr Tony Grewal, who was a partner in practice with Chris from 1987-2010 and preceded him as vice-chair of Hillingdon LMC.
Chris was born in Hull (and remained proud of his Yorkshire roots) but moved with his family to Bedford when he was four. He qualified from Barts, completed his house jobs and began his GP training on the Windsor VTS scheme. During this time, he made many friends, two of whom later joined him in his practice. He also met and later married Astrid, with whom he had three sons.
He joined a practice in West Drayton in 1982. At that time, the premises were poor and the ancillary staff minimal. When he retired from the practice as managing partner some 30 years later, the premises were spacious and fit for purpose, there was a full complement of ancillary and nursing staff, and the practice was properly managed. The practice had a high reputation among patients and colleagues in Hillingdon, largely due to his leadership.
As a GP, he was kind, clinically excellent, a valued and valuable colleague and adored by his patients. As managing partner, he was considerate and popular, but could take difficult decisions when necessary.
He was extensively involved in the wider health economy in Hillingdon, as an LMC member and later as vice chair. He was involved in many aspects of management and service delivery, including becoming PEC chair and cancer lead. He became a member and treasurer of the Board of Londonwide LMCs until his death, where his invaluable contributions included making the presentation of the accounts to the AGM positively entertaining.
In addition, he was a skilled musician, a good artist, an enthusiastic cook and lover of wine. All who knew him, whether professionally or socially (or both), held him in the highest regard for his ability, kindness, capacity for hard work, honesty, courage and great sense of humour.
Last updated : 15 Jun 2017Londonwide LMCs' November 2017 newsletter (22 Nov 2017)
‘Innovative and interesting’ HCA course now incorporates the 15 Care Certificate Standards (21 Nov 2017)
“I would recommend it to other HCAs, a very good course”. “The trainers were excellent”. “Facilitators have a good knowledge of their subjects and they explained clearly”. These are just...London Health and Care Devolution Memorandum of Understanding signed (21 Nov 2017)
The London Health and Care Devolution Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed last week by London, national partners and central government. We currently have some high-level details which we can...BMA referral to a specialist patient leaflet (17 Nov 2017)
The BMA has launched a new leaflet which is designed to provide patients with information on what to expect when referred to a specialist. The leaflet can be downloaded...Practice managers please respond to records update email (17 Nov 2017)
In the next few weeks, we will be sending an email to all practice managers asking them to confirm the GPs who are working at their practice, please look out...Request for hospitals to issue fit notes gets results (17 Nov 2017)
Our recent letters to hospital trusts asking them to issue fit notes to patients rather than referring them back to GPs has had a positive response from Imperial College Healthcare...Londonwide LMCs motions at England LMC Representative Conference (17 Nov 2017)
The first Conference of England LMCs took place on 10 November in London. The full list of motions, including which parts were carried can be downloaded here. A summary...Chairs and vice chairs look at cross-LMC working (25 Oct 2017)
Last week’s meeting of Londonwide LMCs’ leaders looked at cross-LMC working, to make sure we are ready to represent members as the NHS brings in new organisations as part of...Participant practices wanted for unique stress and workload study (25 Oct 2017)
Update February 2018: The Primary Care Barometer is now up and running! As of December 2017 practice managers across London have had the exciting opportunity to participate in a novel survey...GPC guidance on requirements for PREVENT training (23 Oct 2017)
Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (the Act) places a duty on certain bodies (“specified authorities” listed in Schedule 6 to the Act), in the exercise of...Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.