Doreen Ann Birks was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at several London hospitals, including St Thomas’. She was born in Beckenham on 3 March 1925, the daughter of Cyril Douglas Birks and Ivy May Birks née Bartholomew. She studied medicine at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School, London and qualified in 1949. She was a resident, registrar, then senior registrar at the Royal Eye Hospital, London. She took the diploma in ophthalmology in 1953 and gained the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1962, one of the first 200 female fellows. She was also a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. She was a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Bolingbroke Hospital (from 1961 to 1965), the Royal Eye Hospital (from 1962 to 1973), at the district eye unit, Sutton and Merton (from 1965 to 1985) and St Thomas’ Hospital, London (from 1973 to 1985). She was also an honorary consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Royal School of Blind, Leatherhead, Surrey (from 1967 to 1985). She retired in 1985. She was a freeman of the City of London and a liveryman of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. In her retirement she was chair of the Cuckmere Valley Society, Sussex (from 1988 to 1989). She was interested in travel, photography, music and woodwork. Doreen Birks died on 2 April 2024. She was 99.