Obituary - Dr J-P van Besouw

It is with great sadness that I informed the College’s fellows and members in mid-July of the passing of Dr Jean-Pierre van Besouw, who was President of  the College between 2012 and 2015.

Affectionately known as ‘J-P’, many will know that he had been ill for some time, but all who knew him personally will remember him fondly for his wit, kindness, personal support and dedication to the College and our specialty.

During his tenure as College President, J-P significantly modernised and raised the profile of the College. His presidency saw the introduction of the hugely successful Anaesthesia Clinical Services Accreditation scheme, a quality improvement project that in just three years has been taken up by one-third of all UK anaesthetic departments. Other notable College contributions include championing perioperative medicine, by launching the College’s vision document Perioperative Medicine: The Pathway to Better Surgical Care.

in 2014. J-P was also instrumental in promoting the HQIP-funded National Emergency Laparotomy Audit, which is due to release its third Patient Audit Report later this year. This project receives 100% engagement from all hospitals in England and Wales which perform emergency bowel surgery and is credited with improving patient outcomes and providing significant cost savings for the NHS.

For 13 years he was an FRCA examiner, and he chaired the examinations committee for the last three years of that tenure. J-P was also a contributor and reviewer for a number of anaesthetic journals, a member of the BJA Editorial Board and a Director of the BJA.

J-P’s wisdom and leadership were sought by many national organisations and, until the onset of his illness, he combined these responsibilities with his clinical duties as a consultant cardiothoracic anaesthetist and honorary senior lecturer at St. George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.    A consultant at St George’s since 1990, he recognised the increased burden of disease and complexity of post-operative care for cardiac patients. He introduced a two tier of on-call consultant cover to support emergency surgery and cardiac intensive care which is now established as the norm in the specialty. His most recent local appointment was in 2014 as an elected staff governor to St George’s as it progressed towards becoming a Foundation Trust.

J-P also previously held the role of President of the then-named Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists, through which he modernised the Association by strengthening areas of performance review, standards and benchmark setting and workforce and service planning.

J-P was also Vice-Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges between 2013 and 2015 where he led on training and education issues.

The College’s membership, staff and Council have lost a tremendous friend, colleague and leader. It is also clear from the tributes received that J-P was held in enormous esteem by the wider specialty and across the whole of the health sector, who join with us in mourning his passing.

Our thoughts remain with his wife, Liliane, and all of his family at this very sad time.
 

Dr Liam Brennan

(First published in The Bulletin, Issue 105, September 2017)