Sam has been a GP in Tower Hamlets since 1989 in the Bromley by Bow Centre. The Centre is well-visited by many in Singapore who wish to learn more about health and social integration and social prescribing, and has over 100 projects under its roof supporting the wider determinants of health.

 

Sam is a member of the British Medical Association (BMA) Council and Vice President of the BMA. In 1999, he was conferred as Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to inner city primary care. He also attained the International Award of Excellence in Health Care in 2006 and Knighthood for services to primary care in 2015. In 2022, Sam received the Albert Medal from the Royal Society of the Arts, in recognition of his role as a pioneer in social prescribing to combat isolation and improve public health and support full participation in the community. Other past illustrious recipients of the Albert Medal include Marie Curie, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Professor Stephen Hawking. Sam is also a member of the Ministerial National NHS Infrastructure, NHS Resolution and East London Foundation Trust boards and is Fellow and Honorary Professor of Queen Mary University of London and Vice President of the Queen's Nursing Institute. Amongst the many hats that he wears, he also served as an adviser to shadow cabinet ministers between 1992 and 1997, and was national advisor to NHS England’s New Models of Care project and Chair for 9 years to Tower Hamlet’s Clinical Commissioning Group. He is a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners Council. A trained woodcarver, day skipper, and speaker of the Norwegian language, Sam was trained originally as a cadet pilot in the Royal Air Force. He currently lives with his wife and five children in Tower Hamlets, East End of London.