Iona Heath

Iona Caroline Heath is an English medical doctor and writer who was president of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) from 2009 to 2012. Iona retired from medical practice aged 60 years in 2010, She was the only person ever to have applied for and anticipated taking up the post of President of RCGP 2009–2012 when she was no longer a practicing doctor for the majority of the term of office, i.e. during 2010–2012.

Career
Heath graduated from Cambridge University in 1974. She worked as a GP in Kentish Town in London from 1975 to 2010.

She was first elected a member of RCGP's council in 1989. In June 2009 she was elected President of the RCGP. She was on the WONCA World council of general practice. She developed a second career by becoming a speaker at national and international events and acting as an adviser to practising doctors.

In 2014 she chaired a panel looking into the side-effects of statins, prompted by a calls for the BMJ to retract a published article on the topic. The conclusion not to retract in full was disputed the Lancet queried the independence of the panel.

In 2022 she was still contributing to The Lancet, defending the importance of empathy.

Honours
She was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to the Care of Elderly People.

Publications

 * Matters of Life and Death: Key Writings, Routledge,  2007 ISBN 978-1846190964
 * The mystery of general practice, Nuffield Trust, 1995 ISBN 0900574933