Dr Alan Gilmour, who has died aged 72, was director of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) from 1979-89. A career as a general practitioner and medical administrator had given him a great desire to improve the provision of services for vulnerable children, and he led the NSPCC through a period of radical transformation.
Born in Torquay, his Scottish ancestry included doctors, chemists and ministers -descendants of linen weavers from Fife, given to service to the community. His father joined the Mal- ayan civil service and worked in Singapore, leaving Alan to be brought up by his aunt and uncle.
Three sisters and a brother were born in Malaya. During the war, his father was interned, and the rest of the family were evacuated to Australia; it was not until 1946 that all were reunited in Britain. The uncle who had acted as Alan's guardian, Howard Simmons, was a doctor at Lewisham hospital, and Alan contributed a chapter, From LCC To NHS, about this caring, organised practitioner to the collection Our NHS: A Celebration Of 50 Years (1998).
Alan was educated at Clayesmore school, Dorset, and studied medicine at King's College hospital, London, where he was active in the BMA Students' Association. After qualifying in 1956 and taking house posts in the hospital, he joined me in a nearby practice from 1958-67; it was a happy period, and he was popular with colleagues, staff and patients.
Alan demonstrated his organisational skills by centralising the practice in one surgery and inaugurating an appointments system. In 1965, he became a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and, in 1974, a fellow.
Given the breadth of his interests, it was no surprise when he joined the secretariat of the British Medical Association, where he held several posts from 1967-79, covering training of overseas students, training of junior consultants, and the medical advice bureau. A most accomplished speaker, he was much in demand at meetings at home and abroad.
Alan became very interested in child welfare and child abuse, and, in 1979, became director of the NSPCC, taking bold steps to raise awareness of the problems, funds, standards of practice and the organisation's profile. The centenary appeal in 1983 raised £14m, as against the previous year's income of £3m. In consequence, over the next five years, 13 special units, 24 family centres, 65 therapeutic playgroups and various student units were developed under Alan's watchful eye.
In 1986, the NSPCC's campaign The Forgotten Children was launched, using television, radio and cinema to educate parents, professionals and the public on the dangers of physical and emotional neglect. The Queen made children the theme of her Christmas address that year, and, in 1989, an NSPCC child protection centre was opened in Leicester by Princess Margaret in Alan's name, shortly before his retirement.
His book, Innocent Victims: The Question Of Child Abuse (1988), was followed by reports and articles on child abuse, medical education and practice. The NSPCC's current Full Stop campaign, begun in 1999, builds directly on his work in engaging the public's interest.
When pressed on the prevalence of child abuse, Alan always insisted on the need to listen to children and put their needs first, saying that child abuse is "more difficult to spot in the better-camouflaged areas - you can't hear the cries from a castle the way you can from a tenement flat - but they can happen there as readily".
Shortly after he retired to his beloved Dorset, a kidney tumour was diagnosed; it was, at first, considered inoperable, but Alan eventually found a surgeon prepared to take it on. His courage saw him through to enjoy a further 12 years of happiness with his wife Beth, daughters Alison and Sue, and their families. These were busy years, spent raising money for his old school and his church: he was a devout Christian.
His hobbies included gadgetry, gardening, reading and music, and his sense of humour was immense. Shortly before he died, he received two invitations to the same function, one addressed to "Dr AB Gilmour CBE" (awarded in 1984) and the other to "Dr AB Gilmour CVO" (awarded in 1990). In his acceptance, he requested that he "be put beside myself, being my normal self".
• Alan Breck Gilmour, doctor, administrator, campaigner, born August 20 1928; died July 18 2001
