A “true champion” of rural medicine in Scotland has been recognised in the New Year’s Honours List.
Professor Colville Laird (66), founder and latterly director of education and medical director of BASICS Scotland, has been appointed MBE for his services to pre-hospital emergency care.
Professor Laird retired from his BASICS roles in December 2018, having dedicated more than a quarter of a century to the organisation through which he helped to transform emergency training in Scotland.
At the time of his retirement, Ralph Roberts, senior responsible officer for the Scottish Rural Medicine Collaborative (SRMC), commented: “I can think of few people who have had a greater impact in this field.
“Colville’s passion for helping to better equip healthcare professionals for the challenges of work in Scotland’s remote and rural areas has been second to none. We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to him, as I am sure do those people who have received emergency care from a doctor or nurse who has received BASICS training. He will be hard act to follow.”
And on learning of his recognition in the New Year Honours, Mr Roberts commented: “Well done Colville – a true champion of rural medicine in Scotland.”
Dave Bywater, chairman of BASICS Scotland, said: “Congratulations to Colville on this well-deserved honour. Colville has been fundamental to the development of pre-hospital care training and delivery across Scotland over the last 25 years. His dedication and enthusiasm has led BASICS Scotland to become the leading organisation in pre-hospital emergency care training in Scotland, with an international reputation.
“Numerous people across rural Scotland owe their lives to Colville and the foresight he had back in 1993 to set up BASICS Scotland. He is a consummate professional, highly skilled but a humble, generous and likeable individual.”
Professor Laird, who was a GP in Auchterader in Perthshire for 32 years, is immediate past chair of the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, medical adviser to the Sandpiper Trust and was previously an associate editor of the Emergency Medicine Journal. He is an honorary professor at the University of Central Lancashire.
