Air Cdre David McLoughlin
RAF
David McLoughlin joined the Royal Air Force in 1988 as a medical cadet. After qualifying in medicine from Queens University, Belfast in 1990 he trained as a General Practitioner at RAF Gatow, HQ AFCENT, RAF Marham, and Hinchingbrooke NHS Hospital trust. This was followed by postings to RAF Ascension Island, to RAF Aldergrove and to RAF Henlow. Between 2001 and 2005 he completed higher professional training in Occupational Medicine at the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine and in the NHS at University Hospital Birmingham. Subsequent appointments included Officer Commanding Aviation Medicine Training Wing and SO1 Medical Operations at HQ Air Command. He completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course with distinction in 2008. Group Captain appointments included President of the RAF Medical Board, the tri-service lead for Aviation Medicine, and AH Medical Commitments in MOD Main Building. He took up the post of Inspector General for the Defence Medical Services on promotion to Air Commodore on 27 Mar 17. During this tour he reviewed primary healthcare performance, investigated suicides in service personnel and created the Defence Medical Services Regulator. McLoughlin took up his current post of AO Medical Operations on 4 Dec 18 and was also appointed as Head of the RAF Medical Services in Feb 2020.
McLoughlin is a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners, a Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He won the Stewart Memorial prize in 1999, the Royal Society of Medicine United Services section research prize in 2000 and the John Ernsting prize of the US based Aerospace Medicine Association in 2017. His operational experience includes Northern Ireland (a home tour), the Falkland Islands, OP TELIC and OP HERRICK (3 tours). He was awarded the Order of St John in 2005 and the Order of the British Empire in 2014. He has been the RAF Taylor Professor of Occupational Medicine, the Director of Assessment for the national Faculty of Occupational Medicine and President of the Society of Occupational Medicine. He was appointed a Queen’s Honorary Surgeon in 2017.
David is married to Anna, a consultant physician at Cambridge University, and has 2 daughters. His interests include mountain walking, skiing and gardening. He is a chair and trustee of several charities.