Mahendra Gopinathan was born in Sri Lanka and spent his formative years in South India before emigrating to the United Kingdom with his parents at the age of 7. After qualification and junior hospital posts in Dundee he worked in general practice in south east England from 1994 until his premature death.
He was a GP trainer, GP tutor, and an MRCGP examiner. He worked as director of the local out of hours cooperative and was an active occupational health doctor, working towards specialist accreditation at the time of his diagnosis.
In 2005, seeking a new challenge, he left his practice in north Kent for pastures new in south east London. He embraced his new surroundings with enthusiasm, and his holistic approach to general practice made him a popular figure with patients and colleagues alike.
He could always see both sides of an argument (and, if mischief demanded, a third) and when asked for advice would invariably recommend careful study of a some weighty tome or another. If he went AWOL during a family shopping trip he would always be found in a nearby bookshop.
He leaves a wife, Sheila, to whom he proposed during a long distance call from a payphone while a medical student. Her reply, “Why, yes!” was truncated by a lack of small change prompting a hunt for more coins and frantic stabs at the “redial” button. They eventually married and had the two sons who also survive him.
General practitioner London (b Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1958; q Dundee 1987; BSc, MRCGP), died from pancreatic cancer on 5 December 2007.