THE ROYAL FREE ASSOCIATION

(incorporating the Royal Free Old Students’ Associationand Members of the School)

Newsletter 2015

Page 1

It is with great pleasure that I write with the news that Dr James Dooley has agreed to stand for the post of President this year. Pleasure, not because I have had enough, but because James is well known to many of us as a teacher and colleague over more than 30 years. James has kindly agreed to stand in place of Dimitri Mikhailidis, who is not able to fulfil the role at this time, and I am sure that you will support this nomination fully.

This year also brings the first annual meeting to be held on a Saturday and we hope that this will allow more Members to attend and use the opportunity to catch up with friends. It also coincides with the Triennial Dinner which we are holding at the Royal College of Surgeons once again. It is a great venue and I hope to see many of you there.

As you know, one of the aims of our Association is to provide financial assistance to students in need. In previous years this has always been on request; however, in the financial year 2014/2015 we were only asked to provide one grant of £500. It is proposed that in future we advise UCL that we can provide up to £3000 per annum, possibly as six individual grants of £500. These would have to be applied for in the usual manner. These can be requested

along with the funds already available through other long-standing charitable trusts, increasing the number of students who receive assistance in a more predictable and managed way, and we would retain the ability to provide emergency funding outside the annual application process as usual.

In past years we have also donated £3500 per annum to UCL as a lump sum to go towards final year elective bursaries, but last year we were not asked to provide this funding for some reason. Following dialogue with Administration at UCL this will be requested again by them annually. An Elective Bursaries Committee meets in October to allocate funds to students, and it is proposed that we make it a stipulation of the grant that one of our Committee is invited to attend. I would be grateful for your thoughts and opinions.

Thank you for a very enjoyable term as President. I will remain on the Executive Committee and would be pleased if you would consider joining us – we always appreciate new Members! I look forward to seeing many of you in November.

Philip Lodge

Inside This Issue

The Programme for Saturday 21st November, 2015Minutes of the AGM held on 20th November, 2014Finance

This and That:Internal IssuesRoyal Free SnapshotsMembers’ ContributionsReunions

ObituariesAdministrative Notes

Page 2Pages 3-5

Page 6

Pages 7-8Pages 9-10Pages 11-16

Pages 17-20

Pages 21-26Page 27

Royal Free Association, UCL, Royal Free Campus, Rowland Hill Street, London NW3 2PF

Tel: 020 7830 2579 E-mail: rfassociation@gmail.com Web: https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/rfa

Enclosures

Registration Form for Attendance (pink)Triennial Dinner Form (white)Membership Subscription Form (yellow) Stay in Touch Form (green)

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Page 2

10.00 am REGISTRATION AND COFFEE

Sir Williams Wells Atrium Ground Floor, Royal Free Hospital

10.30 am CLINICAL UPDATES – What’s New?

• Dying NICEly- Dr Philip Lodge

• FGM – Miss Susan Tuck

• Dyslipidaemias - Dr Dimitri Mikhailidis

• Orthopaedics – Mr Nimalan Maruthainar

• Ebola Management in the High Level Isolation Unit - Professor Michael Jacobs

• Complementary Medicine – Mr Keith Hunt

• Movement Disorders Research (Neurosciences at the Royal Free) - Professor Huw Morris

11.45 am ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - Agenda

1. Apologies for Absence 2. Recording of Deaths 3. Minutes of the last Meeting held on Thursday, 20th November 2014 4. Matters Arising 5. President’s Report 6. Elections a. Election of new President b. Election of Officers for 2015-2016 c. Election of new Members 7. Finance a. Treasurer’s Report b. Bursaries c. Proposal on UCL Student Funding 8. Any Other Business 9. Date of next Annual Meeting

12.30 pm REPORT ON UCL MEDICAL SCHOOL

Speaker: Dr Will Coppola Divisional Tutor and Sub-Dean, UCL Senior Lecturer in Primary Care

12.45 pm LUNCH

2.15 pm THE PETER SCHEUER SYMPOSIUM

Chairman: Dr Philip Lodge Consultant in Palliative Care Speakers: Dr Rosemary Radley-Smith “Medicine in a Different World”

Dr Richard Nunn “It’s a Doc’s Life – Early General Practice”

Professor Waqar Qureshi “The Good Old Days”

4.00 pm TEA

5.00 pm TAXIS to the Royal College of Surgeons

7.00 pm TRIENNIAL DINNER Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE

THE PROGRAMME

Annual General Meeting to be held on Saturday 21st November 2015 in the Sir William Wells Atrium, Ground Floor, Royal Free Hospital

Page 3

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGof the Royal Free Association held in the Sir William Wells Atrium at the

Royal Free Hospital, London, NW3 2QG on Thursday, 20th November 2014

Present: Dr Philip Lodge in the Chair plus 69 Members of the Association, namely:

Lesley ASHWORTH (1961)Rosemarie BAILLOD (1961)Maureen BARTLETT (1963)John BEAVEN (1982)Elizbieta BIEL (1961)Jo BINGHAM (1980)Paul BINGHAM (1980)Linda BOOTH (1979)Elizabeth BRADSHAW (1964)Richard BRUETON (1971)Alison BUCHANAN (1983)Helen CLARK (1964)Wendy CLINE (1965) Andrew CLYMO (1959)David COHEN (1979)Colin COOPER (1959)Barbara CROFT (1959)Helen CROSSLEY (1961)Anita DAVIES (1959)Robert (Paul) DAVIES (1973)Ewa DRAGOWSKA (1960)Jennifer EDWARDS (1960)Ozgen FEIZI (1964)

John FERGUSON (1957)Angela GALLOWAY (1978)John GIBSON (1956)Margaret GHILCHIK (1961)James HARDIMAN (1964)Susan HILLS (1979)David HORSMAN (1971)Ann HOWARD (1964)Peter HOWDEN (1983)Mary HUGHES (1956)Patricia JONES (1964)Wendy KELSEY (1966)Susan LUCAS (1963)Pauline MANFIELD (1954)Mary MAGUIRE (1955)James MASON (1973)Helen McBEATH (1976)Janet McBEATH (1971)Neil McINTYRE (Member)Jean McKINNON (1961)Fred MEYNEN (1964)Jane MORRIS (1971)Renu MORRIS (1964)

Carola MORAN (1964)Ann NAYLOR (1961)Peter O’GORMAN (Guest)Ruth ODELL (1947)Charlotte PAGE (1977)Margaret PAGE (1964)James PEARSON (1971)Anna RAKOWICZ (1962)Avery REZEK (1959)Jeremy RIDGE (1980)Michael ROSSITER (1991)Elizabeth SALTER (1965)Sonia SASSOON (1977)Louise SCHEUER (Member)Tanya SHENNAN (Member)Andrew SMITH (1993)William TAMPION (Member)Elsbeth TATE (1961)Susan TAYLOR (1971)Brenda THOMPSON (1961)Rosemary UNDERHILL (1961)Pat WALMSLEY (1964)Anne WICKHAM (1965)

Philip Lodge welcomed everyone to the Meeting, and thanked those who had just led the morning’s Clinical Updates.

1. Apologies for AbsenceApologies were received from 97 members as per the list on page 5.

2. Recording of DeathsThe Chairman regretted to report the deaths of 24 members; many of whom had made outstanding contributions to medicine and the care of patients. He read out the names:

ALLEN, Roy T.J. (1960), BEARDWELL, N. Ann (1954), BRUETON, Louise A. (1984), BURROUGHS, Andrew K. (Member), CARVER, Paul H. (1964), CASSELLS, Irene M. (née McAndrew) (1952), CROWLEY, Margaret C. R. (née Moore) (1950), DUCKER, Daphne M. (née Downlen) (1948), GOODING, Dulcie G. (née Rawle) (1959), HAVARD, C. William H. (Member), LLEWELYN, Joan V. (née Macdonald) (1945), LOVE, Wendy E. (née Noble) (1954), LUCAS, Cynthia (Mrs Hassim) (1959), LUNN, Alexandrina (née Currie) (1943), MUSHIN, Anna (1947), OCKELFORD, Olwyn K. (née Thomas) (1949), RIDGE, Celia C. (Mrs Handel) (1963), RUGG-EASEY, Margaret L. (née Taylor) (1940), SAPPER, Helen (née Rubens) (1959), SEIF SAID, Vivian K. (née Jones) (1953), SERVICE, Gwendolyn F. (née Barber) (1940), VESEY, Susan M. (née Broadbent) (1954), WILSON, Margaret (née Davidson) (1958), WREN, Margaret (née Readman) (1945)

There followed a short silence.

Page 4

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGContinued

3. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 21st November, 2013

The Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting had been circulated to all members via the Annual Newsletter and copies were made available to those present. There were no objections or questions and the Minutes were approved.

4. Matters Arising

Ward Names: Original ward names appeared inside each ward, and this

would not change. History Book:

Neil McIntyre reported that his book of the history of the Royal Free would no longer be supported by the Royal Free Charity. Any profits would go to the Royal Free Library and the London Metropolitan Archives, as they now hold the Royal Free Archives.

5. President’s Report

Philip Lodge was pleased to announce that Dr Dimitri Mikhailidis would take on the role of President from June 2015, following his retirement, and he was formally voted in by those present at the meeting. Philip mused that he, as many others, remembered Dimitri as a scary tutor!

Philip would remain on the Executive Committee after stepping down as President and Richard Brueton would remain the Vice-President. Alison Horton (who had joined the Executive Committee the previous year) was introduced to those present. Philip also welcomed David Evans, from the Medial Library, as a new Member and announced that Tanya Shennan had been co-opted onto the Executive Committee.

Philip thanked Wendy Kelsey, Peter Howden and Tanya Shennan for their hard work for the Association and re-iterated the plea for a volunteer to stand for the role of Secretary in order that Wendy could take her long-overdue retirement.

Traditionally, the RFA Clinical Day and AGM had been taking place on the third Thursday of each November to coincide with the Marsden Lecture. It was proposed by Philip Lodge, and seconded by Rosemary Baillod, that the day of the RFA Clinical Day and AGM should be moved to a Saturday with the aim of enabling more Members to attend. The day of the Triennial Dinner would also be moved accordingly. Some discussion followed and a number of people spoke in support of the proposal. Some objections were raised, which

included religious issues, weekend train services and the fact that the Marsden Lecture would remain on the Thursday. However, it was agreed, by those present, to hold the meeting on a Saturday on a one-year trial basis. It was also suggested that all Members should have the opportunity to vote, and it was agreed that this would be arranged.

Officers for 2014-2015

President: Philip Lodge/Dimitri MikhailidisVice-President: Richard Brueton Secretary: Wendy KelseyTreasurer: Peter Howden

Executive Committee:

Rosemarie Baillod Devaki NairAlison Buchanan Susan TuckBimbi Fernando Tanya Shennan

6. Financial Report

Peter Howden had circulated the Accounts and confirmed that there was a total of £20,000 in the two accounts. Generous donations had ensured that the RFA was kept afloat.

Peter thanked all Members who had donated and who paid a subscription. This year 20 new subscriptions had been set up.

£4,000 had been paid out by the Distress Fund and £3,500 in Bursaries. Printing costs remained high, as the only a third of Members had provided their email address for the records. Peter made a further plea for email addresses to be made available.

Peter announced that he would be looking into changing the current bank account system to a more convenient, online banking system. This would eliminate, for example, the need for a 60 page statement being posted.

7. Any Other Business

There was no other business.

8. Date of Next Meeting

The next Annual General Meeting would be agreed following a vote by Members.

Page 5

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE2014

ABEYESUNDERE, Rohini L. (1962)ADAMS, Maureen B. (Mrs Bruce- Murray) (1948)ADAMSON, Kenneth (1967)AHMAD, Sara (1982)AMAKYE, Janet (1984)

BEERE, Deborah M. (1981)BELL, Eileen (1963)BERRY, R.J. (Sam) (Member)BICKERTON, Delia (1960)BLATCH, Sheila (1958)BOUTELL, Kenneth (1960)BOXER, Josephine (1968)BROWNE, Doreen (1959)BURGE, Sherwood (1969)BUTLER, Eleanor (1963)

CARLSON, Jacqueline (1956)CLARKE, Malcolm (1965)COHEN, David (1979)COOPER, Gisu (1988)COPE, Anna (1956)

DAWES, Patrick (1982)

ETHERIDGE, Monica (1940)EVANS, Rosemary (1969)EVERETT, V. Jill (1959)EWAN, Gavin (1973)

FISHER, Derek (Member)FISHER, Marie G. (1952)FOLLEY, Jill (1956)FOUND, Sally (1975)FOX-MALE, Patsy (Mrs Ridgway) (1971)

GORDON-WRIGHT, Hilary (née Burt) (1974)GRECH, Henri (1983)GREEN, Alain (1974)GREEN, Mary (née Clarke) (1955)GRIFFITHS, Margaret (née Gill) (1965)

HARPUR, Jane (née Mathie) (1969)HEGARTY, Judith (née Chilton) (1965)HELSON, Edna (1958)HENDERSON, Elizabeth (née Wheaton) (1953)HENDERSON, Moira M. (née Cameron) (1958)HENDERSON, David (1965)HOLDSWORTH, Dorothy (née Platts) (1961)HORNSBY, Patricia (1959)

JAGO, Audrey (1951)JONES, Shirley P. (Mrs Fraser) (1959)

KEELING, Jean (1964)KING, Isabel J. (née Halstead) (1973)KLUTH, David (1989)

LAQUEUR, Sylvia (1972)LEWIS, Adam (Member)LINDUP, Rhona (1955)LISTON, Joyce (1975)LLEWELYN, Andrew (1980)

MacLEAN, Rhona (1951)MARSH, Marilyn (1956)McINTYRE, Waveney (1994)McCLAUGHLIN, James (Member)MEANLEY, Deborah A. (formerly Doherty) (1965)MEHTA, Asifa (1979)MIFSUD, Albert (1983)MITCHELL, Jean (1945)MUDDIMAN, Margaret (1973)MURPHY, Margaret K. (1962)

NICHOLS, Mary (née Bacon) (1982)

ODEKU, Jill (née Adcock) (1961)OSBORN, Marian (1955)

PAINTIN, Avril (née Reed) (1955)PEPERA, Theodore (1987)PEPYS, Mark (Member)PLUMMER, Yvonne (1977)PHILLIPS, Brian (1954)

REED, Nicholas (1976)RENDELL, Anne (1954)RIBBANS, Bill (1980)RICHMOND, Janis (1961)RIDGWAY, Geoff (1971)ROSE, Flora (1948)RUDWICK, Ann (née Hunter) (1956)

SAGOE, Aba (1965)SANDHU, Sarb (1991)SEYMOUR, Anne (1959)SHIEFF, Colin (Member)SHIRLEY, Janet (née Clements) (1971)SLATTERY, Zoë (1948)SMITH, Marilyn J (née Evans) (1963)STANDBRIDGE, Cynthia (1961)STEANE, Patricia A. (1962)STERN, Dennis J. (1960)

THACKRAY, Jennifer (1994)TOWNSEND, Catherine R. (Mrs Desty) (1959)THOMAS, A. Myfanwy (née Gray-Jones) (1968)THOMAS, Michael (Member)THORNLEY, Barbara (Mrs Webb) (1966)

WALSHE, Margaret M. (1956)WATSON, Jane (1983)WILSCHENSKI, Michael (1985)

ZUCKERMAN, Arie J. (1957)

Page 6

FINANCIAL STATEMENTfor the year to 31st March, 2015

These accounts have kindly been prepared by Karen Hamilton, Head of Management Accounting, Royal Free Hospital.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Firstly, I would like to thank Karen Hamilton from the RFH Finance Department for auditing our accounts once again. As you can see we have a healthy bank balance starting the new financial year. We were not asked to make our usual contribution to the elective bursary fund, but this will resume in 2015/2016 (£3,500.00). Only one award of £500.00 was made to the student distress fund.

Thank you to the alumni who set up new standing orders during this financial year and special thanks to all those who kindly made donations. Could I please encourage those Members who do not pay an annual subscription to consider doing so this year? All the necessary details appear in the attached subscription form and appear below. Please ensure you use your name at qualification and the year you qualified. For the records, please drop me an e-mail to let me know when you set up a new standing order: peter.howden1@gmail.com

Lloyds Bank (Hampstead Branch) Sort Code: 30-93-80 Account Number: 07162876

Thank you in anticipation! Peter HowdenTreasurer, RFA

Description

Subscriptions

Other Income

Bank Interest

Total

Description

Medical School

Printing & Stationery

Postage

Publications

Hospitality

Total

Profit/Loss for period

Brought forward funds

Carry forward funds

£

8,205.00

4,066.00

6.97

12,277.97

£

500.00

5,713.00

60.00

822.70

3,760.84

10,856.54

1,421.00

16,596.67

18,018.10

INCOME EXPENDITURE

I certify that the above statement is a true and fair account of the finances of the Royal Free Association 31st March 2015.

Page 7

THIS AND THAT Internal Issues

SECRETARY’S REPORT

ROYAL FREE CUFFLINKS

Our very popular Royal Free cufflinks are still available for purchase. Price: £15 per pair (incl.P&P). To order, please contact Wendy Kelsey at: wakmc@btinternet.com

Or write to: 7 Butterworth Gardens, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0BJ

The cufflinks will also be on sale at the Clinical Day in November.

Again this year we are grateful for your support as shown by your continued subscriptions and your response to our ballot about the possible change of day of the Annual Meeting.

Please keep sending us your email addresses (both new and amended) for our database – these do help to keep our running costs down.

We have had a particularly successful and heart-warming year in reuniting some

of our Members with friends both in and outside medicine, via email and our website. Lovely stories have included a couple reunited with the colleague who first introduced them to each other; a bride with a long-lost bridesmaid - both after more than 50 years! A 1942 graduate, whose wedding was attended by Sir Alexander Fleming, was delighted at the age of 97, to receive news of us via her son in Australia when we sent her some back copies of our Newsletter. A more recent 1968 graduate was able to send us copies of his collection of RFHSM’s “Free Comment “ (see pages 13-14), and - most amazingly - a 1937 graduate wrote, having just celebrated her 101st birthday, requesting we continue to send her our news!

We were also contacted by the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Charity, who will be marking 150 years since Elizabeth Garrett Anderson qualified as the first woman doctor in the UK. Professor Neil McIntyre will be speaking at their celebratory day in late September at the Royal Society of Medicine, and I have been invited to represent the Royal Free Association at the Dinner, which is being held at The Apothecaries.

Happy reunions are always a feature of our Annual Meeting - hopefully even more so this year with it being held at a weekend. It not only provides a forum for old friends and colleagues to catch up with each other, but also to learn of the latest successes and activities of their Royal Free contemporaries. We very much look forward to seeing many of you in November.

Wendy KelseySecretary, RFA

Page 8

THIS AND THAT Internal Issues

TRIENNIAL DINNER

2015 is the year of our Triennial Dinner, which will be held on Saturday 21st November at 7.00 pm, at the Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3PE.

The Dinner will be a Black Tie event and tickets cost £85.00 each. The closing date for the purchase of tickets is 7th November. All ticket applications should be made on the attached white form and sent to Peter Howden (full details are on the attached form).

Transport. We will be on hand to order taxis for Members to travel from the Royal Free to the RCS after the meeting from 5pm onwards. Prices will be £18.50 for one car (4 passengers), or £25.00 for a 7 seater (6 passengers) (prices correct at time of going to press).

Changing facilities are available in the washrooms at the Royal College of Surgeons, and luggage can be stored in the Committee Room adjacent to our reception drinks’ area.

Accommodation. You may be interested to note that overnight accommodation on the 21st November is also available at the RCS. Room charges are listed below. Please telephone Reception to book well in advance, on: Tel: 020 7869 6700

N0n-Fellow College Rates (Weekend Special – Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

Single Room with En-Suite Facilities = £90.00 Double/Twin Room with En-Suite Facilities = £115.00 Park View College Flat = £135.00 Harry Platt Suite = £155.00

Additional Sleepers

Over 16 years = £30.00 Under 16 years = £10.00

THE MARSDEN LECTURE

The Marsden Lecture will be held this on Thursday 19th November at 5pm in the Sir William Wells Atrium, Royal Free Hospital. Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, has been invited to speak at this event with further details yet to be confirmed. Further updates will be posted on the Royal Free Association website nearer the time

www.royalfree.nhs.uk/rfa

Members of the Royal Free Association are, of course, all invited to attend.

Page 9

THIS AND THAT Snapshots from the Past

Page 10

THIS AND THAT Snapshots from 2014

Prof Tony Schapira gives us a vision of the future for the Royal Free

Current medical student talks to the meeting about his student elective

Members of the Executive Committee making executive decisions

Medical research remains prominent

Our Secretary and Treasurer hard at work

A wonderful way to end the day – good food, drink and company at the Informal Dinner

Our Audience – all VIPs!

Page 11

THIS AND THAT Members’ Contributions

UNEXPECTED ROYAL FREE HISTORY: on a Wall in Whitehaven

Anarticleco-authoredbyDrGavinEwan,retiredGP(firstpart)andDrStephenPollock,retiredConsultantNeurologist(secondpart),bothRoyalFreestudentswhograduated1973-74

Retirement for busy doctors can be a challenge. More so because we will all in our individual ways have counselled patients about ‘filling that space’, ‘time management’ whatever. I have always enjoyed journeys, not just the event, but the pre-amble and planning, and afterwards writing a journal to read on dull wintry days by the fireside.

Thus, I took up the Coast to Coast cycle challenge – easy really if you are a regular to wheels; for me, the plan was four overnight stops, breaking the 140 miles into nice manageable chunks. The route is from Whitehaven to Tynemouth though there are variants. The most moving encounter was meeting Lucy and her husband near the finish, when she shared that she had metastatic breast cancer and was cycling the 170 mile Hadrian’s Cycleway as a challenge and therapy. I had mentioned my medical background over a coffee, and she opened up.

Returning to the beginning, I was walking the streets of Whitehaven the evening before the start, when I came across the purple plaque shown in the accompanying photograph, the last thing I expected to see was Royal Free on a wall. And so, later while crewing his yacht for my former fellow medical student (and nautical Captain) Dr Stephen Pollock, I mentioned this plaque which led to an interesting coincidental link! Over to you Steve .....

My mother, Dr Esther Mary Pollock, MD FRCOG was, for many years, a stalwart of the Obstetric and Gynaecology Department at the Royal Free Hospital with a special interest in fertility and its control, as well as editing the Family Planning Journal. Her MD was on the Lippes Loop, an IUCD which she played a part in introducing. Her younger sister, Betty was married to a missionary who worked in Calcutta. When I was a medical student at the Royal Free (1968-73), Betty arranged through the Methodist Missionary Society for me to do my elective in the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore near Madras where I learnt more medicine in 6 weeks than I had in the previous year. I spent most of the time in the Obstetric Department where, amongst other things, I was taught to do post-natal sterilisations by ligating the fallopian tubes and treat tetanus caused by women attempting to induce miscarriages. After three weeks I was effectively a junior member of staff.

I will always feel grateful to the Methodist Missionary Society for the opportunities they encouraged in a young medical

student and the example they set. The experience I gained resulted in convincing me that I wanted to be a hospital clinician and I returned to the Royal Free, first as an SHO in Pathology 1975-76 and then as a registrar in Neurology in 1978-80 with PK Thomas, John Newsom-Davis and Peter Harvey, ending up as Consultant Neurologist and Clinical Director of Neurology in King’s College Hospital and Consultant Neurologist in Canterbury.

Page 12

THIS AND THAT Members’ Contributions

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – PROFESSOR TEN FEIZI

I am pleased to announce that my sister, Professor Ten Feizi (1961 graduate), has been presented with a Life Achievement Award. Ten is a pioneer of glycobiology, which looks at the biological roles of sugar chains, or glycans. A more detailed article on her work and achievements can be found here:

http://www.glycobiology.org/winner-2014-rosalind.php

Ozgen Feizi (1964)

“HOW BRITISH WOMEN BECAME DOCTORS:

THE STORY OF THE ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL AND ITS MEDICAL SCHOOL”

by Neil McIntyre

Prices are: £18 for the paperback version; £25 for the hardback.

Please add Postage and Packing per copy:

•Within the U.K. = £5.55 •For Europe = £12.70 •For Zone 1 (The Americas, Africa, Middle East, Asia) = £20.00•For Zone 2 (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore = £21.05

Payment by:

1. Personal cheque made out to Neil McIntyre Royal Free Book A/C and sent to him at: 7 Butterworth Gardens, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 0BJ.

2. Electronic transfer to the above account quoting sort code 20-52-74 and A/C no. 83552624.

3. Via PayPal to mcintyre@boston.demon.co.uk

Please send your order, and the address to where your purchase should be sent, together with your payment.

Please Note: Books will only be sent after payment is received. Signed copies of the book will be available to buy directly on the day of the Royal Free Association AGM and Clinical Meeting at the Royal Free on Saturday 21st November, 2015. Any profit made from the book will go to the Royal Free Library and the London Metropolitan Archives (which now hold the Royal Free Archives) to allow documents relating to the Free’s history to be preserved, repaired and promoted.

Page 13

THIS AND THAT Members’ Contributions

• Steve declares: “Here’s the first edition of a new genus of Free Comment. Others in the past have produced a regular news sheet of the same name, but sadly the publication has lapsed. So, with a feeling that a newspaper of some sort is a vital link and mouthpieces for all members of the School, we present a fresh attempt to produce you with a means of expressing your ideas and publicising events of interest.”

• Joan Trowell, President of the Medical Students, said the ‘opportunities for airing current student topics and passing on items of college news’, also ‘we are trying to tell as many people as possible of the Union DINNER DANCE on 22nd November [1963] at the Strand Palace Hotel. Double ticket, 4 guineas [£4-4s-0d]’.

• And next the Freshers’ Day at Myddleton House, Enfield: ‘The only real fault that could be found with the event was the weather, and even the steady downpour did not deter the intrepid sportsmen and women from taking the field (or bog) … Messrs. Quinn, Gale, Simpson and Tranmer are to be congratulated for their successful battle against the weather and unreliable transport.’

• TODAY IS ELECTION DAY! … the post is contested by David Trash and Janet Anderson [1963]; • ‘In recent years the Wind of Change has been blowing around the most unexpected of places – The Royal Free Hospital

School of Medicine for Women is no longer the institution it was. The proportion of males intake has been steadily increasing and is now 50/50, which ratio will remain … very nice compromise.’ [Editorial, 1963];

• THE PRE-CLINICAL CHRISTMAS SHOW: Julia (Cotter) and Virginia (Hall), nymph-like flittering across the stage and yearning so delightfully for ‘a hunk of man’ … Richard Lee gave a masterly performance of a Macmillan speech in anglicised French … [December 1963];

• THE CLINICALS COMPLAIN … ‘Inadequate, inaccessible, dirty … ‘ [1964];• LINDA – 3rd MOST BEAUTIFUL IN UNIVERSITY! Linda Allen, elected Miss Royal Free, was pronounced the third most

beautiful girl in London University … [1964];

“FREE COMMENT”

YoucanseealltheissuesofFreeCommentandphotosonourwebsite:

https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/rfa

I am Robert Wilkins and I went to The Royal Free in 1961-1966. In 1994 I suffered a stroke so my vocabulary is a bit fractured, but the brain cells are about 90% there!!

In the Royal Free Medical School in Hunter Street, Bloomsbury, Steve

Harris, a Graduate of Chemistry, was the Editor of a newspaper, Free Comment – the first copy was the 17 October 1963, Volume 1, Number 1, Price 1d !! This paper aired the news and views of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine students. When Steve Harris left, the Editors were myself, Graham Worrall, Basil King, Andrew Higgins, David Widgery, Chris White, Carol Hopkins, and Steve Wilson.

I have copies of the Free Comment in the garage and Dr Ricky Lee suggested that I should publicise it in The Royal Free Association Newsletter to the Old Students, of particular interest to students of the 1960s. Free Comment was published on Thursday every fortnight. Some interesting snippets from various copies follow:

Dear Sir, After my first week of clinical introductory course, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that it is not badly-organised or boring, as people had told me it would be … My only complaint is of a certain vagueness on the part of some of the doctors who are supposed to give us tutorials. Yours sincerely, Jane Soames

Page 14

THIS AND THAT Members’ Contributions

• BRIGHTON STROLL – RESULTS. Official Results – Royal Free 7th overall and 11th in the women’s section … [1964];• FREE OPT OUT!! STUDENT LOANS? DANCE SUCCESS [Vol. 2 No. 3];• ROYAL FREE WIN CUP! … T. Meanley, P. McLoughlin, O. Jones, S. Burge and A. Gaynor, with help from Prof. and Mrs.

Lawson, Prof. Dowman and Mr. Qvist, husband of the Dean, Frances Gardner [Vol. 2 No. 7];• The Royal Free Dramatic Society of ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ with Mr S. Ungar and Miss R. Setterfield, directed by Miss R.

Dorricott. ‘Profit: just in excess of £60!!’[Vol. 2 No. 9];

• EXTRACT FROM MINUTES OF MEETING OF SCHOOL COUNCIL. Hut in quadrangle [1966];• THE NEW COMMON ROOM AT GRAYS INN ROAD [1966];• SURVEY ON THE MURAL IN THE NEW COMMON ROOM [1966];• ‘The Journal is late. The Journal is boring. There are still 400 copies of the Journal in brown paper in the Union Room.’

[1966];• ‘It was been revealed that the School may sell Myddelton House!’ [1967];• WHY BOTHER WITH WARS. A VERY PERSONAL REACTION TO THE RESTARING OF THE AMERICAN BOMBING OF NORTH

VIETNAM. David Widgery [1967];• MEDICAL EDUCATION: THE LETTER FROM THE COMMITTEE OF THE ROYAL FREE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE TO LORD TODD

[1967].

• Then ‘MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT’; ‘STOP POPULATION NOW!!’ by David Jeffs – ‘VIETNAM’ by Michael Leach – ‘PROBLEMS OF LIMBLESS CHILDREN’ by Alison Viney – WHILE THERE’S LIFE by D. Marsh; and stories like ‘SAMUEL’S SAGA’ by Se-Be and ‘THE ETERNAL QUADRANGLE’ by J.L.Bart;

• Jennifer’s Diary; films like The Americanization of Emily with Julie Andrews and James Garner. Reviewed by A. Gent; London and the Pubs; Rugby, Swimming & Athletics; Cartoons & Jokes; Gastronomy; ‘Born, Engagements and Married’; and NEW COLOUR SUPPLEMENT …

• In the file of ‘photographsin1965’, a few students and the staff of the Human Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry – ‘What are their names?’

Robert Wilkins (1966 graduate) rwilkins55@hotmail.com

Dear Sir, I would like to echo the views of the President, Miss Janet Anderson, when she wrote in support of the idea of a Staff/Student Party at the end of a post. Yours faithfully, Adrian J. Allaway, Barbara A. Thornley & Wendy A. Kelsey

Dear Sir, At the Library Committee meeting it was reported that 5 books had been stolen from the GIR Quietroom and 2 from the Lawn Road Common Room …. Robert Gale

Dear Sir, Hundreds of used plastic drinking mugs had been left strewn around all over the room. A great minority had taken the trouble to dispose them in the bins provided which were virtually empty! Is this disgusting state of affairs to continue? P.J. Say

Dear Editor, After ten months of the clinical course I feel bored, frustrated and disillusioned … Michael Leach

25 May 1967 - Dear Sir,I think you are running a splendid paper.Yours ever, Harold Wilson.

Page 15

THIS AND THAT Members’ Contributions

On 25th July 1955, the Royal Free Hospital closed its doors and remained closed until 5th October. The hospital had been struck by an obscure infectious disease, which became known as Royal Free disease. In total, 292 members of the 3,500 medical, nursing and ancillary staff and 22 patients were affected. In 1956, an article in the Lancet re-named the disease benign myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). In 1984, another epidemic of a clinically similar disease, in Nevada, USA was named chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Since 1934, 62 epidemics of a similar disease have been described globally. Sporadic cases of the disease occur with an estimated prevalence of 2-4 per thousand of the population. The disease may be called ME or CFS, and ME/CFS is the currently favoured acronym.

Some 15 years after the outbreak, a paper in the BMJ suggested that mass hysteria was the likely cause. The authors examined the records of some selected patients who were mostly nurses. They did not interview any patients, some of whom were still suffering ill effects from the outbreak. They ignored or dismissed signs of infection and a multitude of neurological signs. Because, in their selected cases, the illness was mostly in young women and no pathogen had been found, they diagnosed the outbreak as mass hysteria. The hysteria hypothesis persists to this day, in spite of the many well-documented pathological changes found in patients’ immune systems, mitochondrial function, autonomic nervous systems, brains and genomes.

In 1955, the Royal Free hospital group consisted of 5 hospitals and the medical school. Staff from all the hospitals became ill. We, the authors, were medical students at the time. We thought that after 58 years, it would be instructive to find out what happened during the outbreak and discover any long-term after effects of the disease. We put a statement in the Royal Free Association newsletter and the Royal Free Hospital Nurses League magazine asking anyone who was present during the epidemic to contact us. Twenty seven people replied, 6 had suffered from Royal Free disease, 2 had had a short lived illness which was thought to be abortive Royal Free disease and 19 had remained healthy. In 1955, 11 were medical students, 10 doctors, 5 nurses and 1, a physiotherapist.

Our informants told us that initial symptoms and signs of the illness varied, but included fatigue, drowsiness, severe headache, sore throat, vomiting, muscle pain, enlarged posterior cervical glands and a low grade fever. After a few days, symptoms often worsened with severe pain, muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis. Symptom severity ranged from mild to severe. Secondary cases developed the disease after an incubation period of a few days. Most nurses nursing the patients did not develop the disease, but the records of the hospital consultants, showed that the attack rate was 19% in nurses and 8.3% overall. Only 22 hospital inpatients developed the disease. Tests showed that many patients had a low white cell count and some had atypical lymphocytes, but Paul Bunnell tests were negative. The cerebro-spinal fluid findings were normal, distinguishing the disease from polio. Treatment was mainly supportive, and included insistence on complete bed rest, while symptoms lasted for severe cases and convalescence for the same period of time as the duration of symptoms. Too early activity always precipitated a relapse.

Recovery took from a few days or weeks to several months. Some patients with paralyses and some with several bizarre symptoms were still in the hospital 6 months after the onset of the epidemic. Some of these patients gradually got better and were discharged. A few with persisting paralysis were transferred to a rehabilitation unit. Sadly, one patient committed suicide. Although many of the staff recovered enough to return to work, many continued to feel ill or fatigued for at least a year. We had reports of several patients known to our informants, who had various pareses that had persisted long- term, including: weakness of one leg which required an arthrodesis of the knee and ankle; weakness of one hand; foot drop; wasting of both hypothenar eminences; and ptosis. Of the six patients known to us, who had recovered from Royal Free disease, four reported recent illnesses which included two with Parkinson’s disease, one with heart disease, and one had multiple mini strokes. Another patient had had Hodgkin’s disease.

At the time, the hospital staff, were baffled about the diagnosis. Initially the disease was thought to be related to polio, but the clinical picture was very different and cerebro-

ROYAL FREE DISEASE, SIXTY YEARS ONSummaryoftalkgivenattheRoyalFreeAssociationmeeting,20thNovember2014

Page 16

THIS AND THAT Members’ Contributions

spinal fluid tests were normal. Glandular fever was considered, but Paul Bunnel tests were negative. Hysteria was discussed but rejected because the disease was very clearly infectious. However, hospital staff were understandably anxious about getting the illness and as there was no test for it, some patients were thought to be neurotic, or have exaggerated their symptoms, and some people believed that the disease was psychiatric or not a real illness.

How did the Royal Free hospital cope with an explosive epidemic of a highly infectious obscure illness, which had not been described in the medical text books? “The people running the hospital did not know what had hit them”. The first doctor to get ill was sent to the private wing of one of the smaller hospitals in the group. No infectious disease precautions were taken and a nurse said she caught the disease from him. Later on, staff who felt unwell were told to report to the resident medical officer for the infectious diseases department. The RMO examined them and felt for enlarged cervical nodes. If the nodes were palpable or there was doubt about the diagnosis, the patient was sent to for further assessment. In the third week of the epidemic, all the hospitals were closed to new admissions due to lack of healthy medical and nursing staff and in an attempt at isolation. Following the closing of the hospitals, most of the existing inpatients stayed, but the obstetrics and gynecology wards were cleared in order to admit patients with the epidemic illness. Two of the hospitals remained closed until early October.

Pre-clinical students in the medical school did not develop the disease, but several clinical students became ill. Healthy clinical medical students were sent to various hospitals in

and around London and attended clinics and teaching rounds and much enjoyed the experience. Some students were sent away on holiday and some went home to revise for exams. In spite of the interruption in their studies, the healthy medical students managed to qualify on time.

What did we learn from this study? The evidence of those who actually experienced the epidemic showed that Royal Free disease was not “mass hysteria” but was an infectious disease. Mass hysteria does not result in a paresis, persisting for 60 years. Because sporadic ME/CFS can be life-long, we wondered whether some Royal Free disease patients might still be suffering from symptoms of ME/CFS, but if so, they did not contact us. We learnt that ME is spread by casual contact and the incubation period is a few days. Although only a minority of those exposed, develop the disease, the closer the contact with the patient, the more is the risk. Symptoms and severity are very variable, diagnosis is difficult and recovery can take weeks, months or years. There may be permanent muscle weakness. Exposed people who are resting (e.g., the hospital inpatients) are much less likely to develop symptoms and as complete rest as possible is the best therapeutic measure. It is important for patients to have a period of convalescence to avoid recurrences. Fear of contracting the illness in some individuals can lead to difficulties in assessing their symptoms and may result in a diagnosis of hysteria. Suggestions were made for future research.

Rosemary UnderhillRosemary Baillod

References:

(1) The medical staff of the Royal Free Hospital. An outbreak of encephalomyelitis in the Royal Free hospital group, London, in 1955. BMJ 1957; 895-904. (2) Crowley N, Nelsom M, Stovin S. Epidemiological aspects of an outbreak of encephalomyelitis at the Royal free hospital in the summer of 1955. J of Hygene (Cambridge) 1957; 55: 102-122.(3) Leading article, The Lancet 1956; 1:789-790. (4) McEvedy CP, Beard BM. Royal Free Epidemic of 1955: A Reconsideration. BMJ 1970; 1:7-11.

Page 17

THIS AND THAT Reunions

1955 Graduates

Calling all graduates of 1955 - 60 years on! Is there any mileage for us trying to meet this Autumn in London, in September or October? I could come for the day from the Lake District to Euston so meeting at an easy venue such as the British Library or the

British Museum or even Gunters for lunch or tea (do you remember it is where we had the Royal Free Ball in 1953!!). Caroline, Ann Bence, May Maguire, Rosemary Dart and

others come to mind, but some may be out of reach. With very best wishes, Barbara Tonge (formerly Marston)

My current e-mail is the way to find me: barbara.l.tonge@gmail.com

1958 Graduates

Meet for coffee in John Lewis, Cambridge between 11-11.30am on Monday 21st September, 2015.

Next step will be weather-dependent!

For details, contact Pat Last palast@talktalk.net

1965 Graduates

50th ANNIVERSARY REUNION BANQUET

Saturday 21st November, 2015 at 6.30pmChandos House, 2 Queen Anne Street, London, W1G 9LQ

Please contact Malcolm Clarke, 07789-681527E-mail: malcolm.clarke3@virgin.net

1976/1977 Graduates

We are planning a 40 years’ reunion for those qualifying in the year 1976/77, to be held in November 2016.

Please let us have your current contact details including an email address. We are looking for a venue that will encompass afternoon tea, dinner, an overnight stay plus breakfast

the following morning. Also it would be useful to know if a Sunday or weekday night would be acceptable for the reunion. This would keep costs down.

Looking forward to meeting up again! Irene Weinreb irweinreb@gmail.com and John Wilson jgmwilson@doctors.org.uk

Page 18

1979 Graduates

The 36th reunion of 1979 Royal Free graduates is being held over the weekend of 14-15 November, 2015 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

A formal dinner, wine tasting and jet boating are all on the agenda!To join us, please contact Helen Mitchell: themitchellsare@xtra.co.nz

or Marion Sephton: mjsephton@yahoo.com

1980 Graduates

I am organising a reunion for the graduates of 1980 on Saturday 3rd October 2015, in my garden (address below). This will take the form of:

1pm - meet in pub in our village (100 yards from our house)3pm - Tea and cakes in Marque in our garden

7 pm - dinner in Marque (it’s heated!!) (and veggie alternative)Total cost is £65 pp for the afternoon tea, evening event including wine and soft drinks. Lunch paid individually at the pub.

Any profit (if any!!) will be donated to a charity of choice.

I have already E-mailed those I have details for, but if I have missed you, please contact me! Martin Waldron

Beech House, 5 Wentworth Court, Station Road, Harlington, Beds LU56HZTel: 01525 872266 Mob: 07768 960782

mwaldron@gm-solutions.com

1982 Graduates

A reunion for 1982 class will be held on 12th September, 2015 in Bath.To receive more details, please e-mail:

Rebecca Hobbsbeccyjh@me.com

1990 Graduates

Our 25 year reunion will fall into 2016! Join us on 23rd January, 2016At the Norton Park Hotel, Winchester.

Contacts: bimbi.fernando@nhs.net or c.allum@nhs.net or peter.mills1@nhs.net

Is anyone willing to organise a reunion for

1951 Graduates or 1973 Graduates?If so, please get in touch with me for names of people already interested, and a list of

contact details for your year. Tanya (rfassociation@gmail.com)

THIS AND THAT Reunions

Page 19

THIS AND THAT Reunion Write-Ups

1969 Qualifiers After 45 years the warm glow of deep affection we feel towards each other has grown. This is always evident at these

five-yearly gatherings. Our reunion was held in Yorkshire, at The Black Swan in the delightful village of Helmsley, 25 - 27th September, 2014. The sound of excited chatter was heard wherever we gathered to catch up to old friends. Many had travelled from around the UK, but there were some from other continents.

Everyone had so much to share about the years since 1969. The challenges of our student days become transformed as we look back over the passing years. Those who purchased a copy of “How British Women Became Doctors” by Neil McIntyre will have enjoyed the stories about our old sports grounds at Myddleton House, where we spent many happy afternoons playing various sports, and some will remember rowing at Chiswick.

Jane Richardson kindly organised a visit to Scampston Hall with a personal guided tour around the interior. The grounds and gardens were beautiful. That evening the Reunion Dinner was held in the hotel. The staff looked after us so well that I am sure many of us will be returning.

On the final morning we assembled at York Minster to meet one of the knowledgeable guides before everyone went their several ways. It is always sad to say farewell to our Royal Free “family” after these reunions. However, after such a memorable reunion the excitement did not die down and there are proposals for a grand 50th reunion, possibly in Wales.

Sandra E Hartman (nee Goodey)

The 1969 graduates having a wonderful reunion in Helmsley, Yorkshire last autumn, and all looking forward to the next one to be held 2019, probably in Wales.

Page 20

THIS AND THAT Reunion Write-Ups

1975 Qualifiers

The 40th reunion of the year of 1975 was a wonderful and very happy occasion and it seems that a good time was had by all. 62 of us turned up with 97 in total, including friends from Australia, Canada, the US, New Zealand, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and S. Africa. We planned it as a 2 day event as it was 20 years since we had all met. It was like a party game to start with, trying to guess who some people were. Gone were afro hairstyles, perms, some hair gone altogether and there were quite a lot of different colours, particularly on the ladies! To compensate there was some increased facial hair ... on the gents!

We met at Shendish Manor Hotel near King’s Langley, with drinks outside followed by an informal dinner on the Friday. 3

people came to the dinner who couldn’t be there on the Saturday, but as everyone was still catching up on Sunday perhaps 3 days would have been even better. During the day on Saturday, people played golf, went for a walk along the canal, or visited Hughendon or Waddesdon or Bletchley Park. We were all back by tea-time and the foyer of the hotel became a glorious welcome area, and more guessing games, for all those arriving for the dinner, not present on the Friday. Over pre-prandial drinks there were photos in the garden followed by a very good meal, after which many gathered in the foyer again to continue their reminiscing. By Saturday morning, it had already been proposed that the next reunion should be in 5 years, not 10, let alone 20. Several people had never been to a reunion before and were a little daunted by the prospect, but there were no regrets afterwards.

Roll on 2020! We underestimated the number which might attend and so asked for larger than needed deposits, which

enabled us all to have a group photograph out of the funds and we were able to make a donation of £400 to the Royal Free Hospital Students’ Association.

Maggie Marshall

Our Committee of 5 was chaired by Sam Coulter, who did the lion’s share of the work.

From left to right: Chris Thorogood, Anne Zachary, Sam Coulter, Maggi Marshall, Cameron Ayres.

Page 21

OBITUARIES

Dr Cyril William Holmes Havard MA, DM (Oxon), FRCP (Lond) blamed his first name on the Bishop who christened him in 1925. William or Bill was always his usual name, but his insightful parents realised that the initials WC could cause problems at school. Both his parents were special in their own ways. His Mother Aimee was English and came from an entrepreneurial family of tin-platers in Llanelli. As a very young woman she was one of the first ever female drivers for the Ministry of Munitions in the Great War. In her later years she had a speedboat and took to flying lessons in her 70s. His Father was born to Welsh farming stock in Brecon and was actually the second William Thomas Havard as his older brother had died in childhood like other siblings. He went into the Church and served in France during the Great War as a chaplain which he never talked about. He did however earn a Military Cross. He went to Jesus College, Oxford and served in several Parishes in Welsh-speaking parts of Wales and then in Battersea, London. He managed to fit in a little sport and captained Llanelli for many years and was the only Vicar to have earned a Welsh cap in the days when Wales won all their matches. He became Bishop of St Asaph and finally Bishop of St David’s where he christened his first grandson Mark before his death in 1956.

Bill went to school at Marlborough College where he learned to play the organ. He used to love playing and often took the opportunity where his Father was preaching. He frequently got carried away with Organ Voluntaries much to the disadvantage of the poor verger who used to have to operate the manual pump! He joined the Navy after Higher School certificate in 1943 and, after pre-commissioning training in Oxford, was posted as a Midshipman to the anti-submarine training flotilla based in Campbelltown. He later served on a coal fired mine-sweeper and had the honour of ‘beaching’ it at Milford Haven at the end of the war. Nothing technical here but this simply means full steam ahead up the beach at high tide!

He went to University at Christ Church, Oxford and then down here to Barts for his clinical studies. He also had a love of Rugby and captained the Bart’s first team. He married in The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great in 1955 where his funeral was held on 21st November 2014. He became the Clinical Tutor at Bart’s prior to Consultant appointments at the Royal Free and Royal Northern Hospitals.

Carol Brayne who is Professor of Public Health Medicine at Cambridge and has pioneered the study of dementia wrote in the BMJ last June about the people who had most influenced her ‘Bill Havard, an inspiring general physician, and so kind to juniors.’ I am not sure they would all agree with that because he refused to use a Royal Free lift and dragged his firm up and down all the 12 floors if necessary. The juniors presenting the patients did not so much struggle for words as breath!

He wrote Current Medical Treatment in 1965 that had five editions until 1983. Lectures in Medicine was first published in 1967, and Frontiers in Medicine was published in 1973. He also wrote two editions of Laboratory Investigations of Endocrine Disorders in 1979 and 1983 and was Editor of Blacks Medical Dictionary from 1987 until 1990. He also was on the Editorial Board of Hospital Medicine and Vice-Dean of the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine from 1980 until 1983. He had a keen interest in Endocrinology and was Chairman of the European Thyroid Club and in charge of the Endocrine Clinic at the Royal Free. While a Consultant Physician at the Royal Northern he also directed the Clinical Pharmacology Unit from 1966 to 1990. He used to examine for the University of London and the Royal College of Physicians and was a College Censor from 1983 – 1985.

He had four children Mark, John, Sukie and Mary and had eight grandchildren. The family used to holiday in Gwbert, Wales almost every year for over half a century initially at

C. William H. Harvard1925 - 2014

“Three generations of Royal Free doctors”William, John and Lucy

Page 22

OBITUARIES

the retirement home bought by the Bishop and latterly at the Cliff Hotel. Over the last decade there used to be three generations holidaying together in Gwbert which he loved. He was there only six weeks ago with some of the family for the last time. He taught all his children to drive from about the age of 11 on quiet Welsh lanes and Oakdene School Lacrosse pitches.

One quality I really want to mention was his humour. He was not one for long jokes – more one liners. He used to comfort me about my hair loss by saying ‘grass never grows on a busy road’ – but we both knew well that there has not been much intellectual traffic over my cerebrum! He used to

like a glass of chilled Sancerre and when the water jug was passed round he would always proudly declare that he ‘never touched the stuff’.

He re-married Lydia in 1980 and developed a close relationship with her son Rob. His health had declined over recent years and he had needed round the clock care at home from a devoted Lucia but kept a twinkle in his eye until the end. He died peacefully at the Royal Free at the age of 89, of septicaemia secondary to SBE.

John Havard

Mr John Hopewell, a renal Consultant who oversaw the introduction of dialysis and transplantation at the Royal Free Hospital, has died aged 94. Mr Hopewell was appointed as a Consultant Surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital in 1957 with the intention of developing a department of urological surgery. He had a particular interest in the possibility of treating end-stage renal failure by the emerging techniques of haemodialysis and renal transplantation. By 1958 patients were being dialysed and in 1960 Mr Hopewell performed the first live donor kidney transplant using chemical immunosuppression alone in the UK.

Professor Stephen Powis, Medical Director, said: “John was instrumental in setting up services at the Royal Free Hospital for patients with kidney failure. In the late 1950s he undertook pioneering work in renal transplantation with Roy Calne, a junior surgeon working with him. Following this Roy, now Sir Roy, went on to develop many of the techniques and drugs used in modern day transplantation. John was passionate about the Royal Free Hospital and when I started work here in 1997, although already retired, he was one of the first to welcome me.”

Today the Royal Free London has around 700 patients on haemodialysis. Advances in treatment have led to longer lifespans and a much better quality of life. The average lifespan for patients on dialysis is now 20-30 years but some people have been on dialysis for more than 30 years.

In his memoirs featured on the British Transplantation Society website, John wrote: “Before 1960 there was virtually no treatment for the common problem of end-stage renal failure in the UK. By 1970 every region had a unit capable of treating it by haemodialysis and transplantation, which have continued as complementary treatments to the present time. This development, a notable and rapid advance in clinical practice, deserves historical record.” On his retirement in 1986 he was appointed as an Honorary Consultant in Urology at the Royal Free Hospital.

https://www.royalfree.nhs.uk/news-media/news/tribute-to-groundbreaking-doctor/

John Hopewell1920 – 2015

Page 23

OBITUARIES

Dr Eleanor Herrin who was part of Oxford’s first all-women medical practice died aged 99 on 22 October 2014. In 1947 she joined the famous Trinity College consulting rooms at 53 Broad Street, alongside founders Victoria Smallpeice and Mary Fraser, and the team joined the National Health Service (NHS) on the day it was founded in 1948. The practice, it is believed, could have been the first run by women in the country. It was the precursor to the original Jericho Health Centre in Walton Street, Oxford, to which then Senator Edward Kennedy, youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy, paid a visit and was taken on a tour by Dr Herrin herself. Dr Herrin continued to work as a GP for the rest of her career, holding daily clinics in her home at 206 and later 255 Woodstock Road, Oxford, as well as at Jericho Health Centre.

Eleanor Joy Burchardt was born on January 26, 1915, in Caversfield, near Bicester, to parents Ernest and Viola. She was the fifth of seven children, three brothers and three sisters, and grew up in a large house on the Banbury Road, Oxford, now part of the University. She attended Wychwood School for girls and followed her sister Chris to Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, where she was taught by an inspiring science teacher, Mrs Hamilton, and decided to become a doctor. She often said that she chose medicine because none of the family had shown any interest in it – her siblings were evenly divided between classical, literary, architectural and other scientific interests. Her father died while she was at school and when she went to Oxford, she studied at St Anne’s as a home student and missed out on the student experience. After completing the first MBA she qualified as a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital in London, then one of the few places where women could train as medics. The group of women she met there became life-long friends and all pursued medical careers (Drs Portia Holman, Margaret Howat, Marjorie Levay, Joyce Neill and Dorothea Walton).

Eleanor met her future husband, Philip Herrin, in the queue for standing room at the Royal Opera House in London in 1938; they were married in 1939 and their daughter Judith was born in 1942. During the war she was evacuated to Rycote isolation hospital, close to Stoke Mandeville, the pioneering hospital for replacement limbs, and worked mainly in paediatrics, while her husband volunteered for the RAF and was trained in Canada. In 1943 he was shot down over Germany while he was Flying Officer in command of a Lancaster bomber. Eleanor did not remarry.

As a GP she particularly enjoyed looking after families, often three generations of the same household, as well as those who worked on the barges that used the Oxford canal, and students at Oxford University. She was keenly aware of young women’s needs and went out of her way to assist their own control of fertility. She served so long as Health Inspector at Marks and Spencer’s store in central Oxford and looked after the female employees that on her retirement they presented her with a gold watch. Her days were dominated by clinics and then home visits (so few people had cars!) and one weekend in every month she was on call at weekends (the phone would ring and she would say “That’s any one of the thousands I’m looking after”). She was devoted to the ‘mother and baby’ clinics held in quite remote villages where basic health training and inoculations were given. She became secretary and then president of the local GP association and went to the College of GPs annual meetings. As new treatments and surgical interventions became more complicated she spent long hours talking with drug company representatives who visited the practice regularly, attended annual refresher courses and subscribed to magazines like Update, which she sent on to a contact in India. When the role of health visitors became more surgery-based, she regretted the lack of critical back-up in home care for families at risk.

At the age of 62 Dr Herrin decided to retire and enjoy her hobbies, especially playing the viola in a number of amateur orchestras and quartets in Oxford. She continued to subscribe to the British Medical Journal and would read it every week. In addition to befriending a series of young lodgers who rented rooms in her house, she was also a keen gardener and most loving grandmother. Eleanor Herrin died peacefully at her home in Woodstock Road on October 22. She is survived by her daughter Judith, the eminent historian, as well as two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter. Her son-in-law, Anthony Barnett, said: “Eleanor Herrin was a formidable and much-appreciated family doctor with a tremendous reputation. She was an advocate of women’s equality and in the 1960s became known as willing to prescribe contraceptives as the sexual revolution got under way”.

Judith Herrin

Dr Eleanor Herrin1915 - 2014

Page 24

OBITUARIES

Dulcie was born and brought up in London and qualified as a doctor in 1959 after training at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School, London University. After her pre-registration posts, when she worked at Hampstead General Hospital, she worked for a short time in a general practice in north Kensington before training in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, obtaining the Diploma in Public Health.

After this, she worked in the London Borough of Hounslow with particular responsibility for child health, including in the local schools. Among her responsibilities was the oversight as medical officer of a school for deaf children which also had a specialized unit for deaf blind children who had been born deaf-blind as the result of their mothers contacting Rubella during early pregnancy.

Dulcie moved from London to Aylesbury in the mid-nineteen sixties when she was appointed to the staff of the Medical Officer of Health in Buckinghamshire, who was Dr – later Sir – John Reid, a man she later married. She had the responsibility for planning the medical services for the new city of Milton Keynes. This long term strategic planning was a part of her career that she particularly enjoyed.

She moved back to London when she was appointed as the Area Medical Officer for the Borough of Barnet and Harrow – the only woman in the country at that time to hold such a post. Following National Health Service reorganization, she left Brent and Harrow and completed a vocational training appointment in General Practice working with doctors in Chesham. But this time in general practice served to convince her that she was happiest working Public Health. She moved to Oxfordshire to work on medical staffing at the Oxford Regional Health Authority with Dr – later Dame – Rosemary Rue. In addition to working throughout the Oxford Region to allocate and appoint medical staff, she worked with Rosemary to facilitate the part-time work of doctors who for personal reasons were unable to work full-time. Although this scheme was open to both men and women, the majority were women and it allowed many women doctors to work part-time while their children were young and return to full-time senior posts when their families were less time consuming. This project has set the pattern for schemes for part-time post-graduate training and working in medicine that have since been adopted nationally. Dulcie was proud of her contribution to policies that helped to overcome some of the obstacles for women in medicine. At the end of her

career, Dulcie returned to London to work with Dr June Crown in Bloomsbury on medical staffing issues.

Besides her commitment to medicine, Dulcie was independent, but committed to public service. In retirement, her skills were put to good use as a charity Trustee and while Dulcie lived in Oxford she was a Magistrate.

Dulcie made a succession of lovely homes, in London,

Buckinghamshire and Oxford, before moving to Bosham in her retirement. She inherited a property developer gene, in that wherever she moved, she would begin with structural alterations. Dulcie was also a passionate gardener. She relaxed with her embroidery, painting and reading – especially history – and while living in Bosham she attended a course on modern history at the University of Chichester which facilitated her work on her own family history.

Dulcie married twice: as a student she married a fellow medical student, Michael Gooding, which ended in divorce. She worked with and, later in her retirement, married Sir John Reid. Sadly, they only had a few years of happiness before his sudden death. She enjoyed supporting him through his year as President of the BMA and travelling with him to professional commitments in Europe and America and to visit some of his family in Canada.

Her final illness was long, and a prolonged decline allowed her to continue to work at home on her family history, though it prevented her from enjoying her last years as fully as she would have wished. Ever practical and independent, she arranged for her care in her own home to within a few weeks of her death. Dulcie had two children by her first marriage, a daughter and a son, and three grandchildren, all of whom read at her funeral in Bosham Church.

Dr Dulcie Gooding (née Rawle) – Lady Reid1933 – 2014

Page 25

OBITUARIES

Prudence Barron learned her profession during and after the Second World War, but did also recount that she did have a small taste of pre-war formality. There used to be a weekly ward round by the Consultant, during which the student doctors would line up in clean white coats as the great man arrived in his chauffeur-driven Rolls, clad in pinstripes and black jacket, wearing a grey top hat.

She was born in Poona Maharashtra in India in 1917 during the First World War; her father, Colonel Frederick Halton, who in peacetime was a solicitor and later the coroner for Cumberland, had been stationed on the North-west Frontier during the third Afghan rising. His wife, Ella, missed him greatly and went out to join him; subsequently Prue arrived. Blockaded by a submarine barrage, it was not until two years later that Prue and her mother could return home to Carlisle, after a gruelling six-week sea voyage. Prue’s four older siblings, expecting an Indian sister, were very disappointed when she finally arrived.

Educated as a boarder at Cheltenham Ladies’ College from the age of 12, she became a prefect and then Head of House. Encouraged by her mother, she was accepted for one of the six places for women at the London School of Medicine in 1936 and was on the wards at the Royal Free Hospital by 1939, when the operating theatres were put underground to avoid the Blitz. The students, considered highly valuable, were farmed out for their safety and moved around the Home Counties practising the different specialties. For Prue it was paediatrics at Carshalton, eyes at Bedford, orthopaedics and casualty at Luton, pathology at St Albans, and midwifery at Woking. She qualified in 1942 and moved to Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle to take the post initially of house physician and then house surgeon where, as the senior surgeon commented: “Miss Halton’s duties were unusually arduous: besides work in the surgical wards, operating theatre and casualty department she shared duties in the fracture service, gynaecological wards and the Emergency Medical Annexe for war casualties. She proved to be thoroughly efficient and completely reliable. Her devotion to duty, kindness to patients and staff alike made work in my wards run very smoothly.”

After 18 months Prue secured a position at The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh as a Clinical Assistant to the renowned Gertrude Herzfeld, the first practising woman surgeon in Scotland. She enjoyed every minute of this post while studying for her surgical fellowship. During this time,

Penicillin, in the form of a thick brown liquid administered by injection, was just being released for civilian use and Prue was witness to the spectacular results.

The Professor of Surgery in Edinburgh wrote: “She has performed a great many operations, some of considerable difficulty and complexity, and her results have been marked by uniform success”. Following intensive study she became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in July 1945, just a few days after VE Day.

With a Fellowship under her belt she went on to become the Assistant Surgical Resident back at Cumberland Infirmary and then, after a year, in order to expand her knowledge and experience, she gained the post of Surgical Resident at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where she assisted in the first paediatric open heart operation.

Throughout this period in a high pressure environment with post-war demands and staff shortages she excelled in every field. Prue was invited back to Edinburgh by Miss Herzfeld and was appointed Senior Surgical Registrar at Bruntsfield Hospital in October 1947 as the inception of the NHS was under way. To supplement what was a very modest salary she demonstrated anatomy at the University of Edinburgh and it was there, in the somewhat unromantic setting of the dissection room, that she met fellow surgeon Arthur F M Barron. They were married in Carlisle Cathedral in 1950 and a year later the first of three children arrived. When she judged the youngest was old enough Prue returned part-time to her medical career, initially working as the medical officer at Crawford’s biscuit factory in Edinburgh and later as a GP in a Leith Walk practice.

Prudence Barron1917 - 2014

Page 26

OBITUARIES

In 1967 she was appointed medical officer for geriatrics at Queensberry House and Lodge in the Canongate, where she was known for her kindness, sensitivity and compassion and was also acknowledged as an extremely capable clinician.

Tragically, in 1971, suddenly and unexpectedly Arthur, her husband, died following a massive stroke. Being left to cope with three teenage children and a reduced income could not have been easy. Stalwart and determined as ever, she continued to work at Queensberry but now also as the Geriatric Associate Specialist at The Royal Victoria, Corstorphine and Eastern General hospitals.

In 1975 she was awarded the MBE for services to geriatrics. The investiture took place at Buckingham Palace on what would have been her silver wedding anniversary. When St Columba’s Hospice opened in 1977, Prue worked on a voluntary basis, covering weekends and many nights, subsequently joining the Executive Committee until 1993.

In addition to her work, she was a leading light in the Marriage Guidance Council, a valued assistant in the Leith Hospital Samaritan Society, a dedicated supporter of Christ Church Trinity and then St James Goldenacre. She was Chair of the local Medical Women’s Federation and, in her retirement, Chair of the Cruse bereavement counselling service. Devoted to her immediate and wider family circle, Prue enjoyed and was knowledgeable in a variety of subjects including the classics, literature, ornithology, botany and gardening. She had a great depth of understanding of Christianity and throughout her life was sustained by her faith. She kept abreast of current affairs and never lost her fascination for the developments in contemporary medicine.

Prue and Arthur were caring and attentive parents, giving the family a wonderful childhood in Trinity, Edinburgh which seemed to be the meeting point and main playground of all the local children. “We’ve been on holiday,” Prue said

to one of the neighbours once. “Yes, I know,” the neighbour replied. “It was heaven”. She was always a most attentive and loving grandmother and great-grandmother. Keeping up to speed with the modern world and, being computer literate, she regularly shared photographs and e-mails with family and friends.

A great fighter with a quiet but stubborn determination at aged 92 she had open heart valve replacement surgery, later having both eyes treated for cataracts and more recently a new and advanced hip operation following a fall. She continually bounced back, but finally her heart started to fail and with placid acceptance she drifted happily and peacefully away on 10 October. Right to the very end she was in complete control, even evaluating with the hospital doctor the relative merits of her medication and discussing with the junior registrars their future careers. Her consultant wrote: “It was a privilege to have met her, we discussed her experiences and it is very clear that such an intelligent and determined woman paved the way for many other female clinicians and surgeons to be able to deliver the care they do today”.

She is survived by her three children, Caroline, Bessie and Richard; five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, the last of whom was born on the day of her funeral. Within her well-organised papers she left a note to the family:

Life is eternal, Love is immortal, Death is only a horizon, And a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.

Richard Halton Barron

Page 27

Administrative Notes

Your continuing contributions are invaluable to the Royal Free Association so please keep sending in

your updates, news, memories, reviews, achievements, announcements and photographs.

If you would like to organise a reunion, please contact Tanya Shennan for the most up to date

information for your year group via the Association email address.

Our usual plea for this year is to request that you provide us with your current email address and

contact details so we can keep the database updated, running costs down, and so that we can provide

you with the latest news about the Association.

You can also find all our Newsletters and a number of other items on the Royal Free Association web

page.

rfassociation@gmail.com

www.royalfree.nhs.uk/rfa

Answerphone: 020 7830 2579

The Royal Free Association

UCL Medical School

Royal Free Campus

Rowland Hill Street

Hampstead

London, NW3 2PF