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. She worked as an inner-city general practitioner in Kentish Town in London from 1975 until 2010.

Career Heath graduated from Cambridge University in 1974. The following year she began work as a general practitioner in the Caversham Group Practice, covering the inner-city area of Kentish Town in North-West London, caring for a mostly disadvantaged and hugely ethnically diverse population. She retired from clinical practice in 2010.

She was a nationally elected member of the Council of the UK Royal College of General Practitioners from 1989 to 2010 and chaired the College's Committee on Medical Ethics from 1998 to 2004 and the International Committee from 2006 to 2009. She was elected President of the College for a three-year term from 2009 to 2012. From 1993 to 2001, she was an editorial adviser for the British Medical Journal and chaired the journal's Ethics Committee from 2004 to 2009. She was an elected member of the world executive of the World Organization of Family Doctors from 2007 to 2012. She was a member of the UK Human Genetics Commission from 2004 to 2007.

She was a Member of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care for the Elderly 1997–1999.

She gave the Harveian Oration for the UK Royal College of Physicians in 2011.

She wrote a regular Op Ed column for the British Medical Journal for eight years and has contributed essays to many other medical journals across the world. She has been particularly interested to explore the nature of general practice, the importance of medical generalism, issues of justice and liberty in relation to health care, the corrosive influence of the medical industrial complex and the commercialisation of medicine, and the challenges posed by disease-mongering, the care of the dying, and violence within families.

Views on ADHD In 2026, Heath appeared in the Channel 4 documentary The Great ADHD Myth?, in which she questioned the medical status of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). She described the symptoms listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as an “arbitrary list of normal behavioural characteristics” and said that ADHD was “certainly not a medical condition” in her view. In a subsequent interview, she called for the ADHD label to be banned and described the issue as societal rather than medical.

Her comments attracted criticism from ADHD researchers, clinicians, advocacy groups and people with lived experience, particularly amid wider criticism that the documentary presented a one-sided account of ADHD.

Rubia also criticised the programme’s presentation of a child who stopped taking ADHD medication while simultaneously undergoing several lifestyle changes, including reduced screen use, dietary changes, increased outdoor activity and more family interaction. She described the segment as anecdotal evidence that could not establish the cause of the child’s subsequent changes in behaviour or functioning.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists stated that the way neurodevelopmental conditions are discussed could fuel stigma and discourage people from seeking support and treatment. Its president, Subodh Dave, said that research suggested ADHD affected 3–5% of the population and remained under-recognised, under-diagnosed and under-treated in the United Kingdom. The College also said that ADHD diagnosis required a comprehensive clinical assessment rather than questionnaires alone, and advised people wishing to stop ADHD medication to consult their doctor first.

The NHS England Independent ADHD Taskforce report stated that ADHD was a clinical diagnosis included within the neurodevelopmental-disorder grouping in current international diagnostic classification systems. It said that diagnosis required a full clinical assessment and could not be established on the basis of questionnaires alone. The report also identified stigma, misinformation and misunderstanding as challenges experienced by people with ADHD, and recommended systemic changes across health, education and employment to improve access to assessment, treatment and support.

ADHD UK also criticised the documentary and submitted a complaint to Ofcom, arguing that the programme misled viewers and risked reinforcing stigma surrounding ADHD. The organisation said that the documentary’s central case study involved several simultaneous changes and that the programme’s conclusion was not supported by the evidence presented.

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 John Berger - Ways of Learning, Oxford University Press, 2024 Matters of Life and Death: Key Writings, Routledge, 2007 The mystery of general practice, Nuffield Trust, 1995