John Bruce Bittiner
Former consultant venereologist Nottingham General Hospital 1962-86 (b 1920; q Aberdeen 1943), died from cancer of the pancreas on 30 May 1998. He served with the Royal Army Medical Corps in India when newly qualified and returned to England to finish his training. He published the first described cases of asymptomatic carriage of gonorrhoea in men in 1955. He delighted in teaching medical students, nurses and midwives, and doctors, and this skill was aided by a rapport for young people and an impish sense of humour. He took great pride in his department, his staff, and the hospital, and in 1990 published Nottingham General Hospital—Personal Reflections. In the early 1960s he predicted the changes caused by the sexual revolution and the contraceptive pill, which were to alter the demography of the clinics from a domination by men to virtual parity of men and women. At the same time effective antibiotics and contact tracing put the traditional sexually transmitted diseases, such as gonorrhoea and syphilis, into decline. He became chairman of the Nottingham Stroke Appeal, which culminated in the establishment of a chair in stroke medicine and an associated research unit. In retirement he pursued his many interests, including horticulture, motor caravanning, and art classes. He leaves a wife, Pauline; two sons and a daughter; and eight grandchildren.
Amélie Boyd
Former part time doctor in infant welfare, school, and family planning clinics in London and Cambridge (b 1906; q Belfast; DPH), d 28 May 1998. She met her future husband in Robert Walmsley’s remarkable anatomy department, several of whose graduates later became professors; her husband being one. She was deeply committed to her work and approached it with two visions, then uncommon but now central to practice. Firstly, do not tell the patient what to do but listen and help them to find their way ahead. This applied to her pioneering work in sex education for teenagers. Secondly, disregard hierarchies and boundaries. Everyone should be cared for without distinction. She retained her capacity to maintain old friendships and make new ones into her tenth decade. She leaves four sons and 14 grandchildren, several in medicine and related occupations.
by John Boyd, Robert Boyd, Stephen Boyd and Richard Boyd
David Christy Dunn
Former consultant surgeon Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge (b 1939; q Cambridge/St Bartholomew’s 1964; FRCS), died from multiple myeloma on 19 August 1998. After a spell as medical officer to the British East Greenland Expedition he started his surgical training in London. He was Sir Reginald Murley’s registrar in St Albans and then returned to Cambridge as assistant research director to Sir Roy Calne, who was just starting liver transplantation. He helped to research mechanisms of graft rejection and drugs to prevent it. When appointed a consultant he worked principally in vascular, neonatal, and upper gastrointestinal surgery, but he quickly saw the potential of endoscopic surgery. He led the Royal College of Surgeons’ comparative audit unit, which led to the creation of recognised training programmes to learn the new techniques. He was president of the Association of Endoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland at the time of his death. He travelled widely, always bringing back new ideas so that his practice in Cambridge would be at forefront of the subspecialty. He was an inspired teacher and director of medical studies at St John’s College from 1984 to 1987. Outside medicine he spent much of his time promoting rowing. He coached countless Lady Margaret eights and in the 1970s and 1980s coached the university blue boat. Driving fast cars, flying Tiger Moths, and watercolour painting were other diversions. He leaves a wife, Anne; three daughters; and two sons, one of whom has just started his medical studies.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday 19 December at 3 00 pm in Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge.
by Michael Lindop
Judith Anne Hardy
General practitioner Basingstoke,1989-98 (b 1951; q Cambridge/St Thomas’s 1975; DRCOG, DCH), died, having taken her own life, on 17 June 1998. She spent three years at Mandeville Hospital in Jamaica and she recalled fondly posts in chest medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics. Her first principal post was in Saffron Walden, moving to Bramley near Basingstoke in 1989. She became a senior partner in January 1998. A sensitive person, she went out of her way to welcome newcomers. She became the driving force in developing the practice, expanding the staff and services and moving to purpose built premises. Judith was modest and self effacing, unaware of her genuine abilities. In the later years she was haunted by episodes of depression, which, unresponsive to medication, were unpredictable and finally overwhelming. She leaves a husband and two sons.
by S J Shribman
Leonard Shenfield
Former general practitioner north London (b Ukraine 1919; q The London 1943), died from an unpredictable cerebral haemorrhage on 24 August 1998. In 1925 his widowed mother brought him and his orphaned cousin to relatives in London’s east end, and although penniless she was determined that they should both become doctors. After retirement to Seaford in 1990 he developed his interest in chess and played regularly in major tournaments. He leaves a wife, Cicely; a son and a daughter; and four grandchildren.
by Joe Lister