Dr Nigel Masters

Who is Dr Nigel Masters?

The FAQs describe him as “a retired general medical practitioner who is a keen innovator of simple ideas for the efficient delivery of primary care for patients”. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners (FRCGP).

He was a Guy’s Hospital primary care lecturer, working in Thamesmead, London. He later moved to Buckinghamshire, where he was a GP at Highfield Surgery in Hazlemere, High Wycombe, and a general practice trainer. He has lectured on the Oxford Deanery minor surgery course.

How did the pack year calculator start?

He and Catherine Tutt won the 2006 National Guidelines in Practice Award, COPD section, for their holistic approach to COPD care. Having decided to be more proactive in detecting COPD, which often has no symptoms, they recognised the need for a simple pack year calculator.

The first working version was produced in Excel by Caroline MacFarlane in January 2007 and tested at Highfield Surgery for three months. At their lectures they were asked to provide it to other healthcare teams, and with the help of James Gardner they produced a web-based version, free to all users. In a 2023 BMJ letter he declared that he developed the website with Catherine Tutt “many years ago” and pays for it himself.

What else has he developed?

• Clinical indications: three or four words on a prescription saying what the medicine is for, such as “to lower blood pressure”. He has written about it in the British Journal of General Practice (2004 and 2015) and the BMJ (2013). The General Medical Council’s prescribing guidance says “you should consider including clinical indications on your prescriptions” and links to clinicalindications.co.uk.
• A nebuliser: the FAQs say he “introduced the first polypropylene footpump nebuliser for drug delivery”. It is no longer manufactured.
• Dosing calculators: simple paediatric dosing calculators, such as a dexamethasone liquid dose calculator for croup, which the FAQs say is free on request through the contact page.

The Clinical Indications site adds that he has written papers on housing design and depressive illness, medication caries and nebulised opiate delivery.

What awards has clinical indications won?

• On 26 October 2004, at the House of Commons, the GP Enterprise Awards 2004: overall winner, and winner of the Risk Management Award.
• On 11 November 2005, the BUPA Communication Award, presented by Sir Graham Catto, President of the General Medical Council.
• In 2005, finalist in the Medical Futures competition (Patient Safety category) and the Guidelines in Practice Awards (Medicines Management category).
• In 2006, a Judges Commendation in the IT/Knowledge Management category of the South East NHS Innovations Awards.

What has he written about smoking?

His letters on smoking recording and pack years are listed with links on publications and awards. They include a 2020 letter on the calculator in the British Journal of General Practice and a 2023 BMJ letter on smoking records and lung cancer screening.