Dr Philip John Helliwell

Education and qualifications

Professional life and career

Postgraduate career

Casualty Officer and then House Surgeon Southport Infirmary 1938-39
Resident Medical Officer 66th Anti-tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 1939 initially in Suffolk
Anaesthetist, Far East 1942. Medical Officer at Quetta with interest in anaesthesia
Then to Burma as a Graded Anaesthetist
Major, Recognised (Specialist) Anaesthetist September 1944
Demobilised End of 1945 in London
Resident Anaesthetist, Guys Hospital, London 1946
Consultant Anaesthetist, Guy’s Hospital 1948-75
Consultant Anaesthetist, St Peter’s Hospital for Stone 1955-67

Professional interests and activities

First research Fellow of the Association of Anaesthetists Great Britain and Ireland March 1947 working on the use of trichlorethylene in obstetric analgesia
Deputy Director, Department of Anaesthesia, Guys Hospital 1948-56
Director, Department of Anaesthesia , Guys Hospital 1956
Chairman of Project Team to build Guys Hospital Tower 1962-67
Superintendent, Guys Hospital 1968-70 then Clinical Superintendent 1970-75
Elected to AAGBI Council 1962
Honorary Secretary AAGBI 1966, President, AAGBI 1973-76. (an extra year because of his skills) Elected as Honorary Member AAGBI 1979, Chairman of AAGBI Editorial Board -1982. Awarded AAGBI John Snow Silver Medal 1987. Set up the AAGBI Sick Doctors Scheme.
Chairman, Organising Committee, 1982 European Congress of Anaesthesiology 1978-82

Other biographical information

Married Elizabeth M. Gordon in 1941; she died soon after Silver Wedding Anniversary 1966
Remarried in 1968, Margaret E. Laws.
First marriage had 3 sons.
Keen gardener and supporter of charities especially CRUSE, a charity for the bereaved.
 

Author and Sources

Author: David Wilkinson

Sources: 

[1] Zorab JSM. Editorial Obituary Philip John Helliwell. Anaesthesia 1994; 49: 659-660.

[2] Carnegie, D. Obituaries: PJ Helliwell. Guys Hospital Gazette 1994; 108: 246-248.