Colonel Duncan Parkhouse

My career in brief I am an anaesthetist and military doctor with over 30 years in the Royal Army Medical Corps. After training at University College Hospital and joining the Army in 1988, I served in Belfast, Norway, and Bosnia before specialising in anaesthesia in 1995.

I’ve deployed on over 20 operations, including Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Mali, supporting both conventional and special forces. I’ve held key clinical leadership roles, contributed to CBRN research, and helped shape operational medical doctrine.

In 2014, I was awarded Queen’s Honorary Physician and in 2015 the OBE for advancing trauma care for deployed forces over the previous ten years. I’ve also served as Defence Consultant Adviser in Anaesthesia and Deputy Medical Director to the Surgeon General.

My focus remains on delivering high-quality care in austere environments. I believe well-trained, supported personnel are the foundation of successful operational medicine.

What SAMF means to me I have been a member of SAMF for over thirty years and in 2025 became a member of the court of directors. The ethos and aims of the society chime with my own values and standards. Throughout my career I have seen the best of individuals at some time stumble or even fall, sometimes people and their nearest and dearest need support to overcome the challenge that they face to maximise their potential going forward. SAMF does not judge it just does its best to support individuals and families to overcome the adversity they face. The concept that a mutual society made up of a completely diverse set of individuals whose only link is an altruistic desire to support each other if the need arises is a powerful one.

My hope for the future of SAMF In looking to the future, the type of adversity that medical families face may change however the need for help and support will not. The challenge for the society is to remain true to its values while being relevant to the wider medical community and being able to continue to support its members. Through increasing its membership and its relationship with other charitable organisations it will be able to deliver more nuanced support to more people and families. The need for support is likely to grow and it is going to be down to societies and charities such as SAMF to lean in and deliver help.