John Godfrey Ball

After service in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC), hospital posts in the Birmingham area and a traineeship in Stourport, John Godfrey Ball succeeded to a single handed practice in Foley Park, Kidderminster, in 1957, where he developed a forward looking group practice. Throughout his career John always generated warmth and humour, which is still remembered by his patients, long after he retired in 1995. Even in his early days in general practice John was active in medical politics, forming the Kidderminster General Practitioners Association in 1963 to fight the closure of the local maternity unit, a consequence of Enoch Powell’s hospital plan. He also served on the Worcestershire Local Medical Committee and in 1968 was elected as the regional representative on the General Medical Services Committee (GMSC, now the GPC), the national body representing all general practitioners. Although he went on to achieve eminence in medical politics, he never lost touch with his practice and his local colleagues. An active BMA member, he was chairman of the local BMA division in …