Nationality British Profession Doctor Field General practitioner | Years active 1997–present Education Sheffield Medical School | |
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Occupation Doctor - general practitioner Known for Deputy Chair of BMA Council Website drdavidwrigley.blogspot.co.uk | ||
David Wrigley is a British medical doctor who works as a general practitioner (GP) in Lancashire and is the deputy chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) Council, since August 2016.
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Early life
Wrigley was born in Blackpool. He was educated at St Mary's RC High School, Blackpool, leaving at 16 to work in a high-street bank. Then, at the age of 21, he left Barclays Bank and studied full time for A-levels. He gained a place at Sheffield Medical School in 1992, graduating with a medical degree in 1997.
Career
He worked as a junior doctor in Oban, Chesterfield and Lancaster before becoming a GP at Ash Trees Surgery in Carnforth where he has worked since 2002.
In 2002, he was elected to the BMA's General Practitioner's Committee (GPC) as a regional representative for Lancashire and Cumbria. The following year he was elected to the Council of the BMA. He became a Trustee of the Cameron Fund (benevolent charity) in 2009, then Treasurer since 2011. He was an outspoken critic of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
He lost his seat on BMA council in 2012, but was elected again in April 2014.
He is the chair of Doctors in Unite, also known as the Medical Practitioners' Union.
In August 2016, he was elected as the deputy chair of the Council of the BMA.
Books
Wrigley was a contributor to the book NHS SOS: How the NHS Was Betrayed and How We Can Save It, edited by Jacky Davis and Ray Tallis, published in 2013 by Oneworld Publications. The book outlines how the Health & Social Care Act came about due to the failings of politicians, the media and medical leaders in the UK.
He co-authored NHS for Sale with Jacky Davis and John Lister which was published in 2014 by Merlin Press. The book debunks the myths put about by politicians such as 'the private sector is more efficient than the public sector' or 'we are not privatising the NHS'. It explains how cuts and closures are impacting on the NHS and how politicians have pushed these changes through due to their ideological policies.