A GP who was brought up in the Isle of Man has been awarded the British Empire Medal in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Dr Steven Quilliam said it was a ‘complete surprise’ to receive the honour.

He has spent most of his working life in Northumbria, having been a GP in Prudhoe since 1986.

The son of the late Leslie and Valerie Quilliam, he attended Peel Clothworkers Primary School and then St Ninian's High School for Boys.

His father was a proud Manxman who moved back to the island in the early 1960s to teach at Onchan Primary before taking over as head at the old St John's Primary School which is now the Bunscoill.

Dr Quilliam’s wife Jo was born in the Isle of Man and his youngest sister Carol, who was also born here, is married to Glenfaba and Peel MHK Tim Crookall. A second sister, Janice, also lives in Peel while his third sister Lesley lives in Alberta, Canada.

After graduation from Newcastle University in 1981, his medical career began at Noble’s Hospital which he describes as an ‘amazing year of incredible experience’.

Dr Qulliam said he had been privileged to have been a GP in Prudhoe, since starting at the now-demolished health centre in West Wylam in 1986.

He said: ‘We formed the primary health care team (a new concept then) to look at the health challenges of that era, such as the high rate of heart disease. We brought in computerisation of the health record which enabled us to achieve high levels of screening for cervical cancer.

‘By 1989, we moved to a new surgery. We focused on high quality prescribing, and GP-based care such as palliative and end of life care.

‘All these initiatives seem pretty standard now but I feel we were paving the way to make the best use of limited resources.’

Dr Quilliam was due to retire in 2020, but Covid meant he postponed retirement to carry on doing surgeries and vaccinations.

He is a founding member of Prudhoe Community Band and says he is passionate about keeping music live, and about the health benefits of playing music.