A Burnham-On-Sea GP has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the King’s Birthday Honours, announced on Saturday (June 14th).
Dr Harvey Sampson, a GP who has dedicated over 40 years to caring for the community of Burnham and Highbridge, and the wider population of Somerset, has received the award for services to General Practice.
Dr Sampson told Burnham-On-Sea.com: ”I am absolutely delighted to have been included in this year’s King’s birthday honours list.”
“It has been a privilege to help care for patients in Somerset over the years, and to be recognised for my work with the award of British Empire Medal is a huge honour.”
After qualifying in medicine at St Marys Hospital, Paddington, Dr Sampson moved to Somerset in 1979 to train as a GP in Taunton. He then worked as a GP in Somerset for over 40 years, and from 1982 – 2015 was a GP partner at Burnham Medical Centre.
Whilst working as a GP at Burnham, Dr Sampson was involved in training many other GPs and medical students, as well as helping to lead the project to develop and build the Berrow Health Campus which opened in 2011.
He also held a number of other roles supporting the wider health community in Somerset, including member of the Professional Executive Committee of Somerset Primary Care Trust, special advisor to the Clinical Commissioning Group for many years and Chairman of the Somerset GP committee from 2000 – 2004.
Having left Burnham Medical Centre in 2015, Dr Sampson returned from retirement in October 2016 as GP Clinical Lead at Highbridge Medical Centre, which became part of Symphony Healthcare Services, and helping to improve the CQC rating from Inadequate to Good in all areas.
In April 2019, Dr Sampson, took on the role as Director for Strategic Development in Symphony Healthcare Services where he continued to provide clinical leadership and expertise.
He has been integral to the development and improvement of general practice services in many areas across Somerset, including most recently the integration of Burnham Medical Centre into Symphony Healthcare, where he helped to implement an improvement in the CQC rating from ‘Inadequate’ to ‘Good’.
