Obituary - Dr Kenneth Lyndon Montague Mills

Dr Kenneth Lyndon Montague Mills (aka Freddie)
Consultant Anaesthetist, Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton, London 1968-92 (Director of Anaesthesia)
Born 11 March 1929 Birstall, Leicestershire
Qualified Westminster Hospital Medical School 1957, FFA 1968
Died 13 November 2010 of transitional cell carcinoma

Freddie discovered anaesthesia in the Royal Navy and often spoke of regretting his decision to leave. He was a very traditional anaesthetist; not for him the brief introduction in the anaesthetic room but rather, a proper visit on the ward with a full history and examination, and daily post-operative visits for major cases. He was a stickler for protocol, insisting on silence in the anaesthetic room at the start of induction. Such practices might be considered obsolete and archaic now but were doubtless appreciated by his patients; perhaps, in today’s ‘customer-focused’ environment, they might be re-visited? He was a superb informal clinical mentor to his son John, a Consultant Neonatologist in Melbourne, Australia.

Freddie was a skilled musician, playing the piano by ear, and composed the tunes for his medical school Christmas pantomime. He loved trout fishing and spent many happy summers on the banks of the Hampshire chalk streams. Latterly, he built up a superb collection of the stamps of the Falkland Islands and was a devotee of the Times crossword, usually completing it before breakfast. He is survived by his wife Jane, three children and five grandchildren.

Dr John Mills