Our Trust Chair receives RCGP Honorary Fellowship

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has awarded our Trust Chair, Rt Hon Caroline Flint an Honorary Fellowship of their college. On Friday 6 September at their New Members and Fellows’ Ceremony in Liverpool, Caroline received her Honorary Fellowship Award.

The Honorary Fellowship celebrates and recognises outstanding career achievements, marking excellence of a distinguished contribution to general practice. The College says, “Honorary Fellowship is an award through which individuals who are not a Member or Fellow of the College, nor eligible to be so, are recognised for outstanding work towards the objective of the College ‘To encourage, foster and maintain the highest possible standards in general medical practice’.”

In practice, this will mean that individuals receiving the Honorary Fellowship have either made an exceptional contribution to helping the RCGP as a professional body to achieve this objective or have made a direct contribution to improving the working lives of GPs and their care of patients.

Thanks to receiving this accolade, her official title is now Rt Hon Caroline Flint FRCGP (Hon). Caroline said, “I am delighted to accept this Honorary Fellowship and would like to thank the RCGP for acknowledging my successes, in particular my role in putting an end to smoking in enclosed public spaces through the Health Act 2006. During my time in Parliament, I was proud to work with some amazing people to make a real impact on public health and to be recognised in this way is an honour.”

The formal citation from the Royal College of General Practitioners said,

“Today, the College recognises The Rt Hon Caroline Flint, a politician who served in Parliament for 22 years, from 1997 to 2019. Caroline's journey is truly inspiring—she built a successful career after overcoming some tough challenges, eventually becoming a Minister of Health in Tony Blair’s government.

Throughout her time in office, she held five different ministerial roles, including Minister for Public Health. We're celebrating her today especially for her work on the Health Act 2006, which brought an end to smoking in enclosed public spaces. Caroline was key in steering the bill through the House of Commons, advocating for a free vote on a ban without exemptions, which she publicly supported and ensuring the ban was introduced in July 2007, giving smokers time to adapt during the summer months. She also played a crucial role in preparing the guidance, regulations, and briefings needed for the ban’s successful rollout.

The "smoking ban" changed the culture around smoking, reduced passive smoking, and made workplaces safer. Within just three months, cigarette sales dropped by 6%. A year later, 98% of indoor public places were smokefree, hospital admissions for heart attacks had decreased by 1,200, fewer children were being admitted for asthma. England saw its biggest drop-in smoking rates, 300,000 more people quit within that first year, and a quarter of smokers quit within five years.”

The Trust would like to congratulate Caroline on receiving this prestigious accolade.