Background
Armstrong was born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
medical officer secretary Armstrong Central Bank
Armstrong was born in Motherwell, Lanarkshire, Scotland.
He was educated at the former Hamilton Academy. He then studied at the University of Glasgow obtaining a First Class Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology in 1968, before then graduating in 1970 with a medical degree with.
Armstrong became a Lecturer in Pathology from 1971-1974 at the University of Glasgow. In 1974 he began training as a general practitioner (General Practice), then in 1975 took up a position as a principal General Practice in a practice in Connel, Argyllshire. In 1989, he was elected to the post of chairman of the Scottish General Practice Committee of the British Medical Association (British Medical Association).
He then became chair of the British Medical Association"s Scottish Council and then deputy chair of the British Medical Association"s General Medical Services Committee (GMSC).
In 1993 he was appointed Secretary to the British Medical Association. In this role he made efforts to develop relations between the healthcare professions. In 2001, Armstrong was appointed Chief Medical Officer for Scotland succeeding Sir David Carter.
During his time as CMO he had to deal with a decline in the uptake of the MMR vaccine and the subsequent appearance of cases of measles. He also needed to grapple with the impact of lifestyle choices that was affecting Scotland’s population.
He spoke in favour of a complete ban on smoking in public places and urged the Scottish Executive to take the lead and introduce legislation to this effect.
He served as CMO until 2005. He is chair of Alcohol Focus Scotland. Doctor Armstrong is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health.