Brian Keighley

Brian Douglas Keighley (21 May 1948 – 9 November 2015) was a Scottish medical doctor who worked as a general practitioner (GP) and was the chair of the Scottish Council of the British Medical Association (BMA) from 2009 to December 2014.

Early life Keighley was born in 1948 and grew up in Bishopbriggs. His childhood holidays were spent on Inchmurrin, an island in Loch Lomond. He was educated at The Glasgow Academy, then studied at the University of Glasgow graduating with a medical degree in 1972.

Career In 1974, as a GP trainee, he joined a medical practice in Balfron, Stirlingshire. He became a partner at the practice the following year, then a trainer in 1978.

He was a member of representative bodies throughout his clinical career.

He was chair of the Scottish General Practitioners Committee (SGPC) 1995−1998. During his time in these positions he faced issues such as public sector pension reform and NHS contractual change. As the outgoing chair in 2014, Keighley delivered a speech to the BMA's annual conference in which he directly confronted the issue of the level of taxation needed for adequate healthcare; this generated much comment from politicians.

He was a champion of minimum pricing for alcohol.

He was member of the council of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) from 2000−2008. In 2010 he became the first chair of the RCGP's Audit Committee.

Honours and awards He became a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners (FRCGP) in 1990, then became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPEd) in 2015. He received a MBE in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to healthcare.

Personal life His first marriage was to Ruth Maguire and they had two sons together. After this was dissolved, his second marriage was to Lesley Stirling. Away from medicine and politics, he enjoyed angling.