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Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E009054 - Broomhead, Ivor William (1924 - 2014)
Title:
Broomhead, Ivor William (1924 - 2014)
Author:
Arthur MacGregor Morris
Identifier:
RCS: E009054
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2016-02-19

2017-11-09
Description:
Obituary for Broomhead, Ivor William (1924 - 2014), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Broomhead, Ivor William
Date of Birth:
7 December 1924
Place of Birth:
Armthorpe, Yorkshire
Date of Death:
25 September 2014
Titles/Qualifications:
BA Cambridge 1945

MB BChir 1948

FRCS 1954

MChir 1958
Details:
Ivor William Broomhead was a consultant plastic surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, Guy's Hospital and the Royal Masonic Hospital, London. He was born on 7 December 1924 at Armthorpe, Yorkshire, the son of Frederick William Broomhead, head of mining engineering in Doncaster, and Florence Elizabeth Broomhead née Percival. As a child, Ivor helped his father repair and rebuild cars: this early, practical experience of reconstruction may well have led to his chosen career in the surgery of reconstruction. Ivor was educated at Doncaster Grammar School, and then went on to St John's College, Cambridge. He gained his BA in 1945 and then went on to University College Hospital (UCH) to complete his clinical training, qualifying in 1948. As a student at UCH Ivor was on the general surgery firm of Gardham and Matthews, and it was here that he first came under the influence of David Matthews, who encouraged him to go into surgery. He returned to Cambridge as a demonstrator in anatomy and took an interest in the anatomy of the soft palate - in particular its nerve supply. The paper he published in the *British Journal of Plastic Surgery* in 1951 is still widely quoted in the literature to this day ('The nerve supply of the muscles of the soft palate' *Br J Plast Surg*. 1951 Apr;4[1]:1-15). During training as a house surgeon and registrar at UCH he again worked under David Matthews. He was a senior registrar at St Thomas' with Richard Battle, and then worked once more with David Matthews at Great Ormond Street, also as a senior registrar. He was subsequently an assistant to Matthews until 1964, when he became the second consultant plastic surgeon at Great Ormond Street. Progress into posts was very slow because of a distinct lack of consultant posts in plastic surgery at that time. An opening came at Guy's Hospital, which he took in 1970 to become the first in the specialty there: his predecessor was appointed as a part-time casualty surgeon and there was one other wartime-trained plastic surgeon, but his contract was in general surgery. Ivor was an extremely skillful, careful surgeon, who could tackle the whole range of reconstructive plastic surgery as well as aesthetic surgery with equal ease. He was technically a very good surgeon. His attention to detail and gentle tissue handling contributed greatly to his good results with few complications. A particular point was his insistence on keeping tissues moist with saline and covered, especially when operating under tourniquet. He had an outstanding bedside manner, and in the out-patient department in particular was a very thorough and caring surgeon with great empathy for patients and their relatives. As his registrar at Guy's I was able to observe this closely as the out-patient department was held in a large single room clinic with four cubicles curtained off. He could also easily monitor my activities and I could gain good feedback if necessary from him. As an educational arrangement, this was very efficient, but in the modern world of confidentiality would be frowned upon. His kind, twinkling sense of humour was not often overtly expressed, but was a major part of his personality. The overwhelming impression he made on patients and colleagues was 'what a nice man'. By the time Ivor was appointed at Guy's, his experience pursuing steps on the career ladder was invaluable in doing all he could to promote recruitment into the specialty. Analysis of the workforce at that time showed 60% of the 65 consultants were over 50. He foresaw big problems ahead because of the imminent retirement of consultants trained during the Second World War. He made very active moves to widen the scope and remit of the specialty with expansion of training and units throughout the UK, particularly while secretary of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons from 1969 to 1974. Plastic surgery units at that time were usually in peripheral hospitals and Ivor's own practice was widely spread, with in-patient commitments and operating at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Guy's Hospital main building with adult beds and a children's burn unit, Evelina Children's Hospital and New Cross Hospital. In addition, he ran a highly successful private practise. This all involved extensive travel over central and south east London. In addition, he made a point of visiting every in-patient under his care every Sunday. As a result, he was a firm advocate for centralising patient specialist services in the interest of better patient care, but progress was very slow. He was a very good teacher, particularly in theatre at New Cross Hospital. A modern twin theatre suite allowed a careful sequence for a junior surgeon to observe one operation, do one assisted by the boss and then carry out another with Ivor immediately available a few yards away. He was totally unflappable, as shown at Evelina Hospital one summer day in 1971. During the repair of a cleft palate, just as the incisions had been made a fire alarm was heard and smoke started coming under the door. Wet theatre drapes were placed to block the gap. An urgent phone message instructed all staff to 'cease all activities and evacuate immediately'. A rapid question to all staff, including the anaesthetist David Carnegie, buoyed by the sight of a turntable fire appliance outside the third-floor window, confirmed the decision to complete the operation, by which time the fire had been extinguished. Publications over a wide range of topics included palate anatomy, early and late bone grafting of clefts, ear reconstruction, injection treatment of cutaneous haemangioma, cystic hygroma, water bed for treatment of decubitus ulcer and other topics. He treated a large number of epidermolysis bulosa patients and received international referrals. A long-time member of the Royal Society of Medicine, he served as president of the plastic surgery section from 1980 to 1981. He was on the council of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons from 1975 to 1977, vice president in 1984 and as president in 1985 organised a very successful annual meeting at Cambridge. Throughout his life, Ivor had a great interest in practical engineering reconstruction projects. When he retired in 1987, he helped his son, Tony, rebuild and restore a 1936 Riley Kestrel. On moving to Lymington, he bought a boat and, in his meticulous way, passed all the correct examinations as a qualified skipper before making numerous cross Channel voyages with his retired anaesthetist colleague David Carnegie. Ivor died on 25 September 2014 at the age of 89 after a long illness, and was survived by his wife, Primrose (née Wagstaff), a medical graduate, three children, Amanda, Tony and Sue, and five grandchildren, Ian, Tom, James, Josephine and Sam.
Sources:
*J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg*. 2015 Apr;68(4):445-6 www.jprasurg.com/article/S1748-6815(15)00081-9/fulltext - accessed 19 October 2017
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009000-E009099
Media Type:
Unknown