Arthur Morris, former consultant plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Ninewells Hospital, has died aged 81.
He also chaired the Scottish council of the British Medical Association for four years and was vocal in defence of the health service at a time when hospital trusts and GP fundholding was being introduced.
Professor Morris, volunteering through Claverhouse Rotary Club in Dundee, and Resurge Africa, also made a huge contribution to the development of a plastic, reconstructive and burns surgery units in Kumasi and Accra in Ghana.
His inspirational leadership and enthusiasm resulted in more than more than £100,000 being raised for the unit.
Honoured
In recognition of his service, he was awarded an honorary professorship by the university in Kumasi.
Arthur MacGregor Morris was born in May 1941 and educated at Dulwich College, London, through scholarship.
He went up to Selwyn College, Cambridge, graduating in medicine from Guy’s Hospital, London, in 1965, where he also completed his house jobs.
Following an anatomy demonstratorship in Newcastle, he completed a surgical rotation in Bristol followed by a one-year research post in the breast unit in Guys in 1969.
Perthshire
After completing a registrar job in Canniesburn, Glasgow, he became senior registrar in Bangour Hospital, Edinburgh, before being appointed consultant plastic surgeon in Tayside, at that time based at Bridge of Earn Hospital.
He introduced new ideas and surgical techniques in the rapidly expanding field of reconstructive plastic surgery, particularly in the areas of head and neck cancer surgery, cleft lip and palate, hand surgery and trauma.
One of his greatest achievements was to plan and build up the department as it moved to a new site at Dundee Royal Infirmary, and subsequently, to Ninewells Hospital with its incorporated medical school.
He developed a service with the highest standards, respected throughout Tayside and beyond.
Arthur was considered an excellent and meticulous surgeon, an outstanding teacher, whose opinion and advice was frequently sought.
Leadership
He also displayed focused and tireless administrative skills, chairing many key committees, including the Scottish Council of the BMA from 1995 to 1999, and chaired the Scottish committee of hospital and medical services from 1989 to 1992. In 2010 he was elected as a board member for NHS Fife.
Most doctors have a limited interest in medical politics, but Arthur not only enjoyed it, he was very good at it, and the medical profession benefitted from his expertise at a time of significant change with the introduction of trusts and GP fundholding.
He was appointed advisor to the chief medical officer in Scotland for plastic surgery, and with others, developed the Scottish Association for Cleft Lip and Palate to support research for children born with cleft lip and palate in Scotland.
For his services to plastic surgery in Scotland he was awarded an OBE.
After his retirement, Arthur devoted much time to his life-long passions for fishing and golf, and for many years, very effectively chaired the prominent interclub liaison committee of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of which he had been a member for many years.
He was also involved in honorary undergraduate teaching at the medical school of St Andrews, overseeing student dissertations, where he was much in demand as a teacher and supervisor.
Tribute
Howard Stevenson, a former senior colleague of Arthur’s said: “Arthur was an excellent colleague, as well as being a good friend, and he and Vicki were kind and generous hosts to their many friends, both in their home in Dundee and subsequently after they moved to St Andrews.
“He bore his final illness with great courage and determination, and the very large congregation at his funeral service bore testimony to the great respect and affection in which he was held; his two children, Tom and Ruth, spoke of the wonderful family life that Arthur and Vicki had provided for them, and his legacy of a vibrant and thriving plastic surgery unit in Dundee is testimony to his many attributes.”
Conversation