Sir Gilbert Blane of Blanefield, 1st Baronet FRSE FRS MRCP (29 August 1749 – 26 June 1834) was a Scottish physician who instituted health reform in the Royal Navy.

[3] Blane was appointed Physician to the Fleet (1779–1783) and accompanied Rodney, initially to pursue the Spanish squadron besieging Gibraltar and engaging them at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and then to the West Indies.

He demanded monthly reports from other ships' surgeons which enabled him to build up a detailed picture of the high levels of sickness that affected the squadron.

[3] Blane published a pamphlet for the benefit of ships' surgeons in 1780 entitled On the most effective means for preserving the health of seamen, particularly in the Royal Navy.

[7] By virtue of these court and hospital appointments, he built up a good practice for himself in London, and the government constantly consulted him on questions of public hygiene.

[8] In 1795 Blane was appointed as Commissioner on the Sick and Wounded Board of the Admiralty; the provision of soap, lemons, adequate ventilation and standardised medical stores have all been attributed to his reforms.

In 1830 Sir Gilbert Blane established, with the sanction of the Board of the Admiralty, a fund for the encouragement of Naval Medical science, which was vested in the corporation of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of London.

In 1913 the rules of the prize were amended and the medal was to be awarded to the Medical Officer who achieved the highest mark in his professional examinations for promotion to Staff Surgeon.

In 1936 the regulations were again changed to a form that remains extant to this day:This fund is employed for the purposes of conferring a Gold Medal on the Medical Officer of the Royal Navy who, to a degree which is considered worthy of recognition, has brought about an advance in any branch of Medical Science in its application to Naval Service, or has contributed to an improvement in any matter affecting the health or living conditions of Naval personnel.