Brian Bliss was a consultant vascular and general surgeon for Plymouth Hospitals. He was born on 21 June 1933 in Ilford, Essex, the son of Albert Reginald Bliss, a post office engineer, and Doris Alexandra Bliss née Young, a telephonist. As a child Brian’s life was dominated by the Blitz and two periods of evacuation. He attended All Saints Church School, passed the 11+ and went on to Selhurst Grammar School for Boys. During those early years he recalled much bullying, but grew in confidence and his troublesome asthma improved such that by the sixth form he was doing well academically, playing rugby, involved in drama, and active in the school’s Air Training Corps. He achieved a place at Charing Cross Medical School during a time when there were 100 applicants for each place and was one of 48 who qualified in 1956. Many of his peers were ex-forces and much older. He recalled later that 21 of his year went on to become consultants, three of whom became professors and one director of medical services at Eli Lilly – a distinguished group. Living on a state scholarship in post war London meant that he was impecunious. Sundry jobs working in and around Covent Garden helped him make ends meet. During his clinical attachments as a surgical dresser, he was ‘allocated’ his first patients, learned how to take blood, put up drips, assist in theatres and administer straightforward ‘gas and air’ anaesthetics – not unusual in those days. He completed his pre-registration house officer jobs at Harrow Hospital. Here he met Jeanne Shearman, who had recently qualified in nursing and was working in theatres. Romance blossomed, dating commenced, but there was very little free time. He recalled their first date was at Kew, then mainly on Sundays at Clifton Hall or Ruislip. They married in 1958, which marked the start of a long, happy and devoted partnership. As was common practice, house officers were the receiving officers for casualties overnight, treating, admitting, referring or summoning assistance. He stayed at Charing Cross and followed the conventional pathway of the time, competing successfully for six- or 12-month senior house officer appointments and building experience in the generality of surgery. Spells of locum GP work to make ends meet was par for the course. In parallel, he studied and taught physiology and worked at the Mildmay Mission Hospital in the East End. During 1958, Helen Roseveare, the well-known missionary doctor was on furlough there from her Congo assignment and made a great impression on him. He passed his primary fellowship in London at the first attempt. He was appointed as a surgical registrar at Charing Cross and recalled the broad clinical experience, which included paediatrics, cardiothoracics and orthopaedics. Final FRCS examination passed, he moved on to a senior registrar post and became interested in the newly emerging specialty of vascular surgery, particularly the development of vein and prosthetic grafts. Brian’s next appointment was as a senior lecturer in surgery in the professorial surgical unit under Anthony (‘Tony’) Harding Rains. He progressed to reader in surgery. His employment contract being with the University of London, the remuneration was extremely modest for the needs of a growing family, but he loved academic surgery and thrived. During this period, he completed his MS thesis on resistance to blood flow. He also investigated new grafts and the role of lipids in vascular disease. He was much in demand as an excellent and very patient teacher. On one occasion, when his legendary patience was being tested, came the exasperated cri de coeur: ‘By gosh, you are the thickest bunch of students I have ever come across’. Years later, he was reminded of the episode by of one of the group, whom he had just appointed as a consultant colleague. Progression to a chair might have been expected, but after nine years in post this was not to be. Although a successful well-published academic, Brian was first and foremost a clinician and by now well established as one of the new breed of general surgeons with a major vascular interest. He was one of the early members of the Vascular Surgical Society and, being the first vascular surgeon in the department, undoubtedly set Charing Cross on its course to become a major international vascular centre. In 1976 Brian was head hunted by Michael Reece and appointed by Plymouth Hospitals to develop a vascular service. There were no specialty vascular services south of Bristol at the time. Some patients were referred, but most simply suffered, underwent amputation or died from what even then was regarded as treatable vascular disease. The family relocated and settled in Saltash close by the river Tamar. There were five NHS hospitals, Freedom Fields, Greenbank, Scott Hospital, Mount Gould and Devonport, plus the Royal Naval Hospital Stonehouse. Brian described clinical practice as incredibly busy. Elective operating lists were conducted on four days a week and frequently ran on into the evening. Introducing a new specialty required exceptional effort and commitment until the case for extra resources became irresistible. Brian fulfilled his commitment to an onerous general surgical emergency rota of 1:5, while in addition providing 1:1 cover for vascular emergencies. It is doubtful whether Jeanne or the family saw much of him during those days. His efforts proved the point and in 1979 he was able to appoint a colleague. It was not deemed appropriate in those days for university hospitals, in this case Bristol, to rotate trainees far away from the centre and none were placed in Plymouth or Truro. Consequently, junior staff in Plymouth were mostly recruited from overseas. They gained excellent clinical teaching and experience and, as a consequence, Brian forged many international friendships and links which endured long after he retired. His achievement of a merit award, rarely awarded outside of the teaching hospitals at the time, was a mark of the regard in which he was held. The first phase of Derriford Hospital opened in 1982. Resisting the allure of the attractive new facilities, Brian elected to stay at the slightly run down Greenbank Hospital in the city centre to join with his new colleague and fulfil the aim of an integrated vascular unit. Many staff, including his long-term ward sister Deidre Giles and secretary Alison, chose to stay with him. Under his leadership a unit was built which published, attracted trainees and thrived. Innovations included joint ward rounds, inter-hospital vascular meetings, joint audits, vascular multidisciplinary team/angiogram reviews, a research assistant and the first steps towards a vascular laboratory. In the four-year period between 1997 and 2001 the unit treated 395 patients with aortic aneurysm and over 200 with limb threatening circulation blockages. Brian was elected to the prestigious Peripheral Vascular Club and hosted several of its meetings in Plymouth. The Plymouth unit contributed regularly to the proceedings of the Vascular Surgical Society and published many papers. One of Brian’s registrars, Alun Davies, was later appointed professor of vascular surgery at his alma mater, Charing Cross Hospital. Brian was elected by his colleagues to the influential position of hospital medical staff chairman during the Thatcher years of NHS reform, which followed the Griffiths Report in 1983. It was a poisoned challis and one which he handled with his usual fairness, trust and humour, although he admitted being bruised by the personal nature of attacks by some colleagues as he did his best to steer a course through uncharted waters. In the early 1980s, his wife Jeanne had developed rheumatoid arthritis and during subsequent years became increasingly disabled. They were a devoted couple. Colleagues and friends rarely heard a word of complaint about the difficult hand they had been dealt. Possibly influenced by Jeanne’s illness and increasing dependence, he retired from Derriford Hospital in 1993 at the age of 60. The foundations of a thriving vascular unit which now serves Plymouth and large tracts of Devon and Cornwall can be traced back to Brian’s vision and energy. The family were devout Christians and Brian was an elder of Saltash Baptist Church, to which he devoted much time and support. He was also an expert and avid gardener. Jeanne predeceased him in 2018. On 14 April 2023, after a long and tedious illness which he bore with his usual stoicism, Brian died from cancer of the bile duct. He was 89. He and Jeanne had three children, Tim, Andrew and Christine, and five grandchildren.