William Wright Fulton, OBE, general practitioner;

born January 1, 1917, died June 7, 1998

DR WILLIAM W Fulton, OBE, the family doctor whose drive transformed the general practitioner service in the Greater Glasgow area, died of a heart attack aged 81.

A native of Larkhall and educated at Hamilton Academy, after qualifying in Glasgow Willie Fulton joined a medical practice in Scotstoun, Glasgow, in 1945. He soon became sole practitioner when the senior partner had to retire. Fortunately Dr Fulton was then joined by his wife, Dr Elsie R Gordon, and they practised together for 37 years.

When the National Health Service was set up in 1948 Willie Fulton became a member of Glasgow Local Medical Committee, the statutory body for the family doctor service. In 1955 he was appointed secretary, a post he held for 32 years, and as a consequence served on Glasgow Executive Council and hospital boards of management.

His special interest lay in medical care for the individual patient. Despite opposition from the other two parts of the tripartite NHS - the public health service and the hospital boards - he concentrated on

providing the city with GP health centres with integrated clinical services, ending decades of family doctors practising from rooms in their homes or in converted shops in tenements with limited or no facilities.

The determination of Willie

Fulton and others of like-mind to spread the concept of GP health centres throughout the country changed the perception of the family doctor service for good. His abiding concern for medical education and the organisation of medical care in the community led to a travelling scholarship to lecture in the US and

Canada, and to being invited to Israel to assist in an international conference on family doctor care.

It also led to his election to the General Medical Council. He served on many committees and was appointed chairman of the discip-linary committee, a prestigious appointment and he was the only GP to have held this office since the GMC was set up in 1858. He declined, however, to be president.

For his work on British Medical Association committees locally and nationally he was elected a Fellow of the BMA. When the Royal College of General Practitioners came into being in 1953 he was a founder member. Ironically, in recent years he had been engaged in recording

on video the memories of other founder members.

Nationally, his wide interest in the field of drugs led to membership of the Joint Formulary Committee and of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs.

A multi-talented man with a keen intellect and skilful hands, and an enthusiasm for organ music and photography, he was a life member of the Scottish Sporting Car Club and acted as a Grade 1 RAC timekeeper at Ingliston and Knockhill circuits. In retirement he was much in demand as a locum in general practice but still found time to graduate BSc at Glasgow University.

A well-known broadcaster on medical topics on radio and TV, always anonymously, he appeared weekly for two years in STV's programme Housecall.

Above all, with four sons and a daughter, Willie Fulton rejoiced in the companionship of close friends and his extended family. He was appointed OBE in the Silver Jubilee Honours of June 1977.