Peter Simpson was the regional medical officer in Mersey, among other roles. He was born and brought up in south west London, the son of John Simpson, a civil servant, and Alice Berwick Simpson née Daniels. He attended Colet Court (where he was head boy) and was a scholar and prefect at St Paul’s School, London. He studied medicine at Jesus College, Oxford and was president of the Oxford University Medical Society from 1963 to 1964. Peter then attended St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in London. He qualified in 1967. He first trained in general surgery on the St Thomas’ Hospital circuit, before going to Northwick Park Hospital when it opened in 1970. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1972 and served as a trustee and a council member of the British Association of Day Surgery. His interest in the organisation of medical care developed during his time on the staff of the King’s Fund. This led to ten years working in the Department of Health in the hospital policy, regional liaison, international and communicable disease divisions. From 1988 to 1993, Peter was the regional medical officer in Mersey. He then joined the London Implementation Group team in 1993. Throughout his career, Peter cared passionately about improving the administration of the NHS and the provision of medical care to patients. He greatly valued the impact Sir Roy Griffiths made in the mid-1980's and had the opportunity to work with him and learn from him at this time. Peter wrote many articles and lectured regularly during his career. He wrote the book *Going home: a guide for helping the patient on leaving hospital* (Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone) with Ruth Levitt in 1981. Peter was an ex-president of the Osler Club of London, which he joined as a medical student. He enjoyed sport at school and university, and represented both at many sports, including rugby, fives, cricket and golf. He founded the golf society at St Paul’s and was active in the Old Pauline Golf Society. Peter married Valerie in 1964 and had two children, Jacqui and Andrew. Andrew followed Peter into medicine, something he was always delighted by, although Andrew decided to be a GP rather than a surgeon. Peter’s first marriage was dissolved in 1987. In 1995, he met Anne Holton, whom he married in 1996. Peter died on 19 August 2018 at the age of 76 and was survived by his wife, children, stepchildren and grandchildren.