Dr Richard Burtles
Personal Details
Dr Richard Burtles MB BS FFARCS
Known as: Dick
07/07/1925 to 08/12/2020
Place of birth: Walton-le-Dale, Lancashire, UK
Nationality: British
CRN: 495471
Education and qualifications
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General education |
St Edward's School, Oxford Middlesex Hospital Medical School London |
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Primary medical qualification(s) |
MB BS University of London 1949 |
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Initial Fellowship and type |
FFARCS by Examination |
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Year of Fellowship |
1956 |
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Other qualification(s) |
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Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
06/1949-02/1950, house surgeon & casualty officer, King Edward’s Memorial Hospital, Ealing; 02/1950-01/1954, Surgeon Lieutenant, Royal Navy; 02/1954-08/1955, HO & SHO in anaesthetics, Middlesex Hospital, London; 09/1955-05/1956, HO to Ventilation Unit, Western Fever Unit, Fulham; 08/1956-08/1957, registrar anaesthetist, Southampton General Hospital; 01/1958-12/1960, senior registrar anaesthetist, Middlesex Hospital, London; 12/1960-12/1964, consultant anaesthetist, The General Hospital, Northampton; 01/1965-12/1984, consultant anaesthetist, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh; 12/1984 - 1990, consultant anaesthetist, Military Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 1991-1995, consultant anaesthetist, Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Western General, Edinburgh.
Professional interests and activities
It was during his first consultant appointment in Northampton that Dick developed his interest in paediatric anaesthesia, moving to Edinburgh to further this, and specialising in anaesthesia for cardiac, plastic, spina bifida and cerebral palsy surgery. Of a very practical bent he designed a number of items of equipment, notably a paediatric intubation forceps (see BJA 1987; 59: 1475-7), and served the organisations of the specialty, notably as president of the Edinburgh & East of Scotland Society. Important though his clinical contributions were, it is arguable that his major one was the founding, around 1980, of the ‘Friends of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children’ a charity which has grown from strength to strength. His annual appearance as the hospital’s ‘Father Christmas’ was not without note either!
Other biographical information
As a medical student Dick was excused National Service, but his conscience troubled him and soon after qualification he joined the Royal Navy. He served for four years, this including two years with 40 Commando Royal Marines in Malaya and his early training in Anaesthesia. Continued involvement with the RNR (as Surgeon Commander) resulted in the award of VRD & bar (1970 & 1975), and his Malayan experience led to long-standing support for the charity ‘Practical Action’ and a number of secondments to other developing countries. His final time abroad was after recruitment to join a unit developing neonatal cardiac surgery, initially for one year. He stayed for six, but the end was clouded by the disruption caused by Saddam Hussain’s invasion of Kuwait leading to delay in his return to the UK and the development of avian tuberculosis. Back in Edinburgh he supported many charities, The Royal Museum of Scotland and the Liberal Democrat Party.
His father, a promising research chemist, died after an accident two days before Dick was born. He met his wife, Sheila Sutherland, on a drive to Spain, and they had two daughters.
Author and sources
Author:
Prof Tony Wildsmith
Sources and comments:
Boulton Form completed 1988.
Obituary with photograph, The Scotsman, 18th March 2021. It contains more detail on his overseas and charitable activities.