David Gatehouse was a consultant surgeon, first at Shotley Bridge Hospital, Consett, County Durham, and then at Hexham Hospital. He was born in York in 1944 and went on to study medicine at Birmingham University, qualifying in 1968. He held specialist posts in surgery in Birmingham, as a registrar at Selly Oak Hospital and then as a senior registrar on the surgical rotation. In 1980 he was appointed as a consultant surgeon at Shotley Bridge. In 1996 he transferred to Hexham. The loss of sight in one eye did not prevent him working as a surgeon. He had a particular talent for endoscopic work, and was one of the first to establish endoscopic biliary and colonoscopy services, progressing later to laparoscopic surgery. He was secretary of the Northern Region Consultants and Specialists Committee, a member of the Central Consultants and Specialists Committee, a surgical tutor for the College and a member of the Court of Examiners. He was a keen Territorial and a keen gardener. He was married to Gwyn and they had three children. He died of a carcinoma of the oesophagus on 28 January 2003.