Dr Michael McBride was appointed to the post of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for the Department of Health, in September 2006.
Prior to joining the department he had been Medical Director at the Royal Group of Hospitals from August 2002.
Dr McBride graduated with Distinction from Queen’s University Belfast in 1986 and completed his undergraduate and postgraduate training in Northern Ireland. In 1991 he attained a Research Fellowship at St Mary’s Medical School and Imperial College London, where he carried out research into new drug treatments for HIV.
Dr McBride has been a Consultant in the Health Service since 1994 when he was appointed Consultant Physician in HIV medicine at the Royal Group of Hospitals and has more than 10 years health service management experience.
He has a longstanding interest in continuing medical education and was Postgraduate Clinical Tutor in the Royal Group of Hospitals between 1996 and 2000 and Director of Education in the Royal Hospitals from 2000.
As Medical Director at the Royal Hospitals, he contributed to strategic change at trust, regional and national level. As the Trust lead for clinical and social care governance, he had responsibilities for all aspects of clinical quality and patient safety.
Dr McBride took up the post of CMO during a time of significant change for Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland with responsibilities for Policy and Strategy in relation to Public Health, Quality and Safety and Research and Development. He also provides strategic advice to Minister and other Government departments on health related matters. He has been closely involved in the development of the new Health and Social Care structures, post Review of Public Administration, including the establishment of the Public Health Agency and also in developing a range of Service Frameworks across Northern Ireland.
Dr McBride currently leads in the work to transform health and social services in Northern Ireland in line with Health and Wellbeing 2026 – Delivering Together.
At the request of the Health Minister Dr McBride took up the post of Chief Executive of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust from December 2014 to February 2017. He combined this role with CMO. As Chief Executive Dr McBride was head of an integrated health and social care Trust which provided hospital-based and social care services to the population of Belfast, as well as most of Northern Ireland’s regional specialist services. He had responsibility for key Ministerial priorities, corporate responsibility for the Trust’s 20,000 employees, and overseen the Trust’s annual budget of almost £1.3bn.