The Chester and North Wales Medical Society is one of the oldest medical societies in the country having been set up in 1883. The Society is open to all doctors in primary and secondary care working in and around Chester and North Wales. Trainee doctors are encouraged to attend the society meetings. The main ethos of the Society is to generate close working relationships and friendship between all doctors within primary and secondary care through a programme of educational talks and social events.
Each annual programme starts in September with a presidential address by the incoming president. The annual President’s Prize Evening is held each Spring where clinical cases are presented by trainees with prizes awarded for the best presentations from primary care (Austen Elliott prize) and secondary care. The President’s Prize Evening is followed by the Annual General Meeting of the Society and is open to all members. There are usually one or two academic evenings each term with invited speakers and an annual Christmas Ball and sometimes a Summer Ball.
The Society is run by a council of volunteer members who meet several times a year and who annually elect the president from the local medical community. Convention dictates that the president alternates each year between local General Practitioners and Hospital Consultants who have been active within the Society. The council also has an Academic and Social Secretary and a Treasurer as well as several ordinary members usually including the past president and the president-elect. The Society and Council are actively supported by members of the Medical Education administration team.
Council members
Our council members for 2024 are:
- Janardhan Rao, President
- Annabel Jones, Immediate Past President
- Shirley Bowles, Treasurer
- Andreas Tridimas, Secretary
- Chris Lewis
- Martin Sedgwick
- David Ewins
- Colm O’Mahony
- Robin Davies
- Dorothy King
- Evelyn Davies
- Eleanor Borton
- Scott Williams
Current and Past Presidents
| 2024 | Janardhan Rao | Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, COCH. |
| 2023 | Dr Annabel Jones | GP. Boughton Health Medical Centre |
| 2022 | Dr Shirley Bowles | Consultant Chemical Pathologist / Director of Blood Sciences. New Presidents now serve for a calendar year rather than September – August. |
| 2019-20 & 2020-21. | Dr Chris Lewis | General Practitioner. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions Dr Chris Lewis, served a 2 year term: 2019-2020 and 2020-21. |
| 2018-19 | Dr Martin Sedgwick | Consultant Physician and Cardiologist |
| 2017-18 | Dr Robin Davies | General Practitioner |
| 2016-17 | Dr David Ewins | Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist |
| 2015-16 | Dr Dorothy King | General Practitioner |
| 2014-15 | Dr Philip Mannion | Consultant Microbiologist |
| 2013-14 | Dr Sally Shaw | General Practitioner |
| 2012-13 | Dr Colm O’Mahony | Consultant Physician in Sexual Health |
| 2011-12 | Dr David Morris | General Practitioner |
| 2010-11 | Dr Virginia Clough | Consultant Haematologist |
| 2009-10 | Dr Isabelle Hughes | General Practitioner |
| 2008-09 | Dr Richard Worth | Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist |
| 2007-08 | Dr Elizabeth McClure | General Practitioner |
| 2006 | Mr George Foster | Consultant Surgeon |
| 2005 | Dr Ian Russell | General Practitioner |
| 2004 | Dr John Williams | Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist |
| 2003 | Dr Paul Dennitts | General Practitioner |
| 2002 | Mr David Campbell | Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon |
| 2001 | Mr John Davies-Humphries | Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist |
| 2000 | Dr Ian Daniels | General Practitioner |
Past Secretaries
| 1991-94 | Dr Isabelle Hughes |
| 1994-97 | Dr Rob Etherington |
| 1997-03 | Dr Sally Shaw |
| 2003-07 | Dr Guy Sissons |
| 2007-10 | Dr Robin Davies |
| 2010-15 | Mr Janardhan Rao |
| 2015-18 | Dr Stewart Leitch |
| 2018-22 | Dr Jacqui Elder |
| 2023- | Dr Andreas Tridimas |
Chester & North Wales Medical Society medal
”A medal for presenting to outgoing presidents, to guest speakers and prize winners was designed by Dr Colm O’Mahony in 2018.
It bears the society moto: REBUS IN ARDUIS SERVARE MENTEM AEQUAM MEMENTO, strictly translates to ‘just remember in these difficult times to keep your mind’, but interpreted by the creator and President, Dr TWE Morton in 1912 as ‘keep cool when things are going wrong’. Advice still relevant in these COVID times…”
