Louis Lillywhite retired as Surgeon General of the UK Armed Forces in 2010. His 42 year career in the Army included medical appointments as a Consultant Occupational Physician, operational deployments, and Command and Staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence and various Army and NATO Headquarters. These included command of the Army’s Parachute medical unit, Chief Executive of British Forces Germany Health Services, Commander Medical of the 1st Armoured Division (including during the First Gulf War) and Director General of the Army Medical Services. Although remaining “retired”, he was from 2017 to 2022 appointed as Master-General of the Army Medical Service.
His post-Army career has included Chief Medical Officer St John Ambulance England (from 2010 to 2016); Chair of the Welsh Government R&D Division External Strategy Group (until 2019); and a member of the Tribunal Appeal Service for Wales and SW England (until 2022), hearing appeals in respect of Employment Support Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment etc); Trustee and past President of the Medical Society of London (until 2021) and a member of the Imperial College Centre for Blast Injury Studies Advisory Board (until 2020). He remains President of the Airborne Medical Society, President of his local branch of the Royal British Legion, a Trustee of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Charity and a Patron of the Orders of St John Care Trust
His main focus is now as a Senior Research Consultant at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), leading on the relationship between conflict and health and responsible for a number of research projects. He was a member of the WHO International Health Regulations Review Committee set up after the 2014 Ebola epidemic and is now involved with WHO on examining the role of the militaries in contributing to preparedness for future pandemics. He is part of a consortium led by Manchester University researching the impact of attacks on healthcare during conflicts.
