Professor Alastair Hay elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians

Professor Alastair Hay

1 August 2024

Alastair Hay, a GP and Professor of Primary Care at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, has been elected Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).

Honorary Fellowship of the college is the highest accolade the RCP Council can award, and it is made to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to medical science, health services and/or clinical practice.

The award has been made in recognition of Professor Hay’s distinction in leading research collaborations in antibiotics and antibiotics resistance, development of evidence-based practice through involvement in NICE guidelines, and developing the future academic medical workforce.

Professor Hay leads the Infections Research Group at the Centre for Academic Primary Care. The group conducts internationally recognised mixed-methods, multidisciplinary research to improve the management of acute infections and the use of antibiotics in primary care. Previous research has directly informed clinical care recommendations in five NICE guidelines and the content of national TV antimicrobial stewardship campaigns.

Current projects include three major clinical trials, funded by the NIHR, to:

improve primary care antibiotic prescribing to reduce antibiotic resistant urine infections (IPAP-UTI programme);
establish whether the use of a rapid microbiological point-of-care test can reduce same-day antibiotic prescribing for patients with respiratory infections in primary care (RAPID-TEST);
investigate if air filtration in care homes prevents winter coughs, colds, flu and COVID-19 (The AFRI-c Study).

Accepting the award, Professor Hay said: “I loved what I learned as a junior hospital doctor through becoming a Member of the Royal College of Physicians, and how it helped me provide better patient care. I have not stopped using that knowledge, both in my clinical practice as a GP for over 25 years and in research.

“As someone who has always regarded membership of the RCP (MRCP) as one of the highest badges of quality available in medicine, to be elected Honorary Fellow (FRCP) is particularly humbling.

“The award recognises the achievements of many people, and I pay tribute to the fantastic clinical, guideline and research teams with whom I have worked and continue to work.

“One of the RCP’s policy priorities is to ‘ensure UK health policy is led by the latest research and innovation’. I now look forward to supporting this aim more effectively as an Honorary Fellow.”

The award will be presented to Professor Hay in person at a ceremony later this year.

Further information

About the Centre for Academic Primary Care

The Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) at the University of Bristol is a leading centre for primary care research in the UK, one of nine forming the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. It sits within Bristol Medical School, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for population health research and teaching. Follow on X: @capcbristol and LinkedIn

About the Royal College of Physicians

The RCP's core mission is to drive improvements in health and healthcare through advocacy, education and research. We are an independent patient-centred and clinically-led organisation, that drives improvement in the diagnosis of disease, the care of individual patients and the health of the whole population both in the UK and across the globe.

About the NIHR

The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.