Dr Hugh Edwin Richard Chew

Personal Details 

Dr Hugh Edwin Richard Chew MBBS FFARCS DObs

18/06/1924 to 24/08/1992

Place of birth: Leytonstone, Waltham Forest

Nationality: British

CRN: 496537

Also known as: Bill

Education and qualifications

Professional life and career 

Postgraduate career 

After being house surgeon, house physician and resident accoucheur at the London he did his national service at the Army School of Health before returning as SHO, then registrar, in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. He then spent two years as demonstrator in anatomy, still at the London, before a year in general practice and a year as a senior lecturer in science with the London County Council. Anaesthesia then beckoned and from 1962 he was sequentially SHO, registrar, research registrar and senior registrar before being appointed consultant in 1970, all at Whipps Cross Hospital, retiring c1987.

Professional interests and activities 

Research early in his career included cerebral blood flow & cardiac output during induced hypotension, and the use of hyperbaric oxygen in anaerobic infections. Later he later developed a major interest in intensive care, working with a physician, Dr Gillian Hanson, to establish their unit as a centre of excellence. A superb organiser he ran the Whipps Cross rota as a trainee, subsequently becoming honorary secretary, then chairman of the department and a member of the Health Authority. He also focused on the training and welfare of his trainees.

Other biographical information

A rugby player in his youth, he went on to become a referee. He married Pamela B Hodgson, and they had two children: Robert & Eleanor. He enjoyed carpentry, having a purpose built workshop at home.

Author and sources

Author: Dr Robert Palmer

Sources and any other comments: Obituary. BMJ 1992; 305: 1430 | Medical Directory | Ancestry.co.uk