Robbie Phillips was an orthopaedic surgeon in Manchester, a proud Scotsman, an excellent surgeon and a first-rate sportsman who gave to his specialty and community. He was born on 15 September 1932 in Edinburgh to William James Phillips, a master plumber, and Mary Phillips née Sneddon. He attended Balgreen Primary School and then obtained a scholarship to George Heriot's School. He entered Edinburgh University in 1950 to study medicine and qualified in 1956. From 1957 to 1959, he served as a surgeon lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. His pre-registration jobs were at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and Western General Hospital. In 1959, he was a senior house officer at Western General Hospital and then a surgical registrar at the same hospital. There he met Jimmy Scott, the first consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Western General, who called all the surgical registrars together and asked if anyone would like to volunteer to become the first trainee orthopaedic surgeon. Never one to resist a challenge, recognising that orthopaedics was in its infancy, that the specialty offered much to patients and that he would take on a lot of responsibility as the first trainee, Robbie embraced the opportunity. After all, he had come into medicine to help others and this would allow him to do just that. From 1962 to 1963, he spent 14 months as a research fellow at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, where he researched the changes in venous blood pressure around arthritic joints at a time when osteotomy was in general use for patients with painful arthritic joints, with some preferring the Judet hemiarthroplasty or Smith-Petersen cup arthroplasty for arthritis of the hip. He was accompanied by his wife and daughter. Although the Americans wanted him to stay, he decided to return to the UK and completed his training as an orthopaedic registrar at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry and as a senior registrar at the United Manchester Hospitals and North Manchester Hospitals Group. In 1967, he was appointed as a consultant to the North Manchester Group of Hospitals, amongst the first in Manchester to be recognised for orthopaedic senior registrar training. He immediately became involved in teaching and administration, in addition to a heavy clinical commitment. At the time, there were four hospitals in the group - Ancoats Hospital, where much of orthopaedic practice was carried out, the Jewish Hospital, North Manchester General Hospital and Booth Hall Children's' Hospital. With the closure of Ancoats and the Jewish Hospital, much reorganisation of orthopaedic practice was required and Robbie played his part. At the time orthopaedics was developing rapidly, especially with Charnley's development of hip replacement surgery at nearby Wrightington Hospital. Robbie recognised the potential of such surgery to relieve pain and restore mobility, and as a new consultant introduced hip replacement to patients in north Manchester. He subsequently did the same with knee arthroplasty, as well as helping run the paediatric orthopaedic service at Booth Hall. He was made an honorary lecturer by the Victoria University of Manchester because of his teaching qualities and served as chairman of the trauma and orthopaedic subcommittee of the Regional Health Authority from 1985 to 1992, at a time when clinicians were able to influence regional policy. He was an orthopaedic adviser to the Royal College of Surgeons from 1989 to 1992, and was made an FRCS *ad eundem* in 1991. He was an excellent chairman and had the ability to involve all without being intimidating; he made sure there was always a lot of laughter. He retired from the NHS in 1992, but continued in his medico-legal practice for a few years. He was always regarded by his colleagues as 'honest and fair' and his opinion as a medical expert was always respected. He loved sport and excelled at cricket, which he played until he was 50. His hands showed the consequences of decades of wicket keeping. He played in the Central Lancashire Cricket League, just below minor counties level. He was a keen golfer, but did not reach the same level. He was captain of his golf club and president of the Cheshire Union of Golf Clubs. He was a proud Scotsman and it was always a pleasure to hear him address the haggis and spend a Burns Night in his company. He devoted time to his charitable work, helping raise money to establish the Oakwood Leonard Cheshire Home and chaired its management committee for a decade. He was a Rotarian. He was survived by his wife, Ella, who met him whilst she was still at school and he was a first-year medical student, his daughter, Gillian, an ophthalmic surgeon, his son, Graeme, an antique furniture restorer, and two grandchildren. He will be remembered as a man of charity, giving of his time and energy to worthy causes, as well as an excellent orthopaedic surgeon whose abiding passions were his family, cricket and golf.