Douglas Fleming has meant a lot to Nivel. As director of the Birmingham Research Unit of the Royal College of General Practitioners, he was responsible for influenza surveillance in England from 1989-2013, and he put the surveillance of symptoms and diseases on the map by using data from general practitioners. He also stood at the cradle of European cooperation in this area, which later led to a European network for influenza surveillance. The Nivel and its Birmingham Research Unit were partners from the beginning. Let us honor the memories of him.

We remember you with great happiness Douglas . Those times spent with the four grandchildren we shared. Also the times spent at Shurton and Chez les Vesoins. Dorothy & John Fairfield

Tribute from Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard Chair of RCGP Council I start this week with the really sad news that we have lost another ‘titan’ of general practice, with the death of Professor Douglas Fleming. Douglas was Director of what we now know as the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) for 23 years from 1989. He died at the weekend after a long illness. Douglas qualified in Birmingham in 1959 and retired from frontline general practice in 2004 after a 40-year career as a GP.