Robert Wilson Thomson, known as Bob, was born in Scotland and educated at Ayr Academy. He entered Glasgow University initially to study modern languages but switched to medicine after a year, graduating MB, ChB in 1964. After early house jobs at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow, he worked as a surgical registrar in Carlisle at the Cumberland Infirmary and then as a senior surgical registrar in Birmingham. In 1974 he was appointed consultant in surgery to the North Tees General Hospital, Stockton-on Tees, and found it very stimulating to be part of the development of this new facility, eventually taking on management as well as clinical roles. Gradually, as his medical interests developed, he specialised more in urology and, in the mid-1980s, became the head of the new department of urological surgery, providing a service across the Tees to the Hartlepool General Hospital. He was a member of the British Association of Urological Surgeons and a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine. Locally, he was secretary of the Hadrian Surgical Club and was responsible for organising its first overseas meeting in Norway. On retirement in 2001 he threw himself into a variety of activities. He returned to Glasgow University to complete an MPhil in medical ethics in 2003 and chaired an independent monitoring board of the local Kirklevington Prison for seven years. Active in Probus, an organisation promoting socialising among the retired, he was chairman for a while and took part in many enjoyable outings. He and his wife Elizabeth, known as Betty, were very hospitable and sociable both with hospital colleagues and the wider community, for example they took it upon themselves to organise the coconut shy at fund raising events for Stockton’s Ropner Park. He died on 15 April 2019 aged 79, survived by Betty, his wife of 53 years.