Stock, Douglas Graham (1937 - 2020)
by
 
Sir Roger Vickers KCVO

Asset Name
E009748 - Stock, Douglas Graham (1937 - 2020)

Title
Stock, Douglas Graham (1937 - 2020)

Author
Sir Roger Vickers KCVO

Identifier
RCS: E009748

Publisher
The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2020-04-14

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Description
Obituary for Stock, Douglas Graham (1937 - 2020), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
IsPartOf Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Date of Birth
21 February 1937

Place of Birth
Chesterfield

Date of Death
10 February 2020

Occupation
Military surgeon
 
Orthopaedic surgeon
 
General surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
MB BS London 1962
 
MRCS LRCP 1963
 
FRCS 1967
 
OStJ 1995

Details
Brigadier Graham Stock was an adviser in orthopaedic surgery to the director general of Army Medical Services and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich. He was born on 21 February 1937 in Chesterfield, the son of Charles Edward Stock, a foreman at Chesterfield Tube Company, and Harriett Stock née Mosley, a headmistress. He was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School, where he excelled at sport, particularly hockey, and was a school prefect. He entered Charing Cross Medical School in 1956 and won prizes for pharmacology and for surgery. He continued to play hockey, both for the medical school and for Derbyshire, and played squash at a high level. He was still a medical student when he married his childhood sweetheart, Barbara (née Hales), who had been his contemporary as a school prefect of Chesterfield Girls’ Grammar School. After qualifying in 1962, he undertook house officer posts in both medicine and surgery at Mount Vernon hospital and it was while he was doing six months in accident and emergency, also at Mount Vernon, that he joined the Army, being appointed as a captain in the RAMC in April 1965. He joined the surgical staff at Colchester Military Hospital and, after a year, moved to the Cambridge Military Hospital, Aldershot, followed by a year at Queen Alexandra Military Hospital, Millbank, after which posting he was promoted to the rank of major. In 1968, he was posted to Northern Ireland, to work on the military wing of the Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast, at the beginning of ‘The Troubles’, which escalated during his three years there. It was during this time that, working particularly with Edmund Rainey, an orthopaedic senior registrar on the Northern Ireland orthopaedic training scheme, he developed a particular interest in trauma and orthopaedics. In 1971, he was posted to Iserlohn hospital in Germany as a general surgical specialist, and after a year was posted to the Royal Herbert Hospital, Woolwich, followed by a further year at the Birmingham Accident Centre, before being posted back to Woolwich and Millbank for two more years as a specialist surgeon, following which he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He was accredited as a general surgical specialist by the Armed Services Approval Board in 1975, and this was followed by a year at the British Military Hospital, Dharan, in Nepal, where, as the only surgeon, he dealt with all surgical problems, including obstetrics and neurosurgery. During this time, he won the local golf championship! His interest in orthopaedics continued, however, and he persuaded the Army to allow him to undertake further training with Rodney Sweetnam, later Sir Rodney, at the Middlesex Hospital, who was the civilian consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the Army. He was included in the Middlesex orthopaedic training scheme for almost two years, also working at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore. After this time, he was also accredited as an orthopaedic surgeon by the specialty advisory committee in orthopaedics of the Royal College of Surgeons. In 1979, he was appointed as a consultant in orthopaedics, at Woolwich. He worked mainly at Woolwich until it closed, though with postings in 1982 to Germany for two years. He also served variously in Oman and in Belize. He and his senior colleague, Jack Coull, were responsible for all the orthopaedic organisation and training in the Army for many years. In particular, they arranged external training appointments for their young orthopaedic surgical trainees in various NHS units in England and Scotland, and encouraged the development of the NHS military unit at Frimley Park. From 1986, he was a consultant adviser in orthopaedic surgery to the director general of Army Medical Services, and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich, until it closed. He was also the chairman of the Defence Medical Services’ orthopaedic specialty board until 1997. He was promoted to brigadier in 1990 and was the Queen’s Honorary Surgeon from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, he was offered a posting to Cyprus, but he declined the posting and left the Army, though continued to do some locum work and he developed a small medico-legal practice, which he continued on a part-time basis until 2010. He and Barbara had moved to Meopham, Kent in 1999 and Barbara’s last job was as headmistress of Farringtons, a large school in Chislehurst. They had two children, Emma, who works in publishing and lives in Kent near the family home, and Matthew, who became a trader based in India, but is now living in Northumberland. There are seven grandchildren. In later years Graham, very much enjoyed gardening with them, and collecting them from schools. He and his wife enjoyed travelling, and were regular attendees over many years at meetings of the orthopaedic travelling club, the Sesamoid Society, the members all being colleagues who had trained at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in the late 1970's. Graham underwent a very successful heart bypass operation in 1993, but in recent years developed renal failure, requiring him to have regular dialysis, which he tolerated well. It was during a short stay in hospital relating to a problem concerning routine dialysis that he died on 10 February 2020, suddenly and unexpectedly in the night. He was 82.

Rights
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
 
Image Copyright (c) Image provided for use with kind permission of the family

Collection
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Format
Obituary

Format
Asset

Asset Path
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009700-E009799

URL for File
383565

Media Type
JPEG Image

File Size
95.15 KB