The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7228 p872-874
14 December 2002

Forrester On 10 November, Isabella Forrester, née Harold, of 4 Lochview, Sanquhar, Forres, Morayshire IV36 0RR. Mrs Forrester registered in 1933 and retired from the register in 1993.

Hart On 4 November, Noel Barrington Hart, née Black, MRPharmS, of 62 Moorgate, York YO24 4HR. Mrs Hart registered in 1942 (see tribute).

Logsdon On 15 September, Faith Logsdon, née Robson, of 225 Fox Lane, London N13 4BB. Mrs Logsdon registered in 1937 and retired from the register in 1938.

Mead On 6 November, Ralph Luscombe Mead, MRPharmS, of Myrtle Cottage, 7 Bakers Parade, Timsbury, Bath BA2 0AY. Mr Mead registered in 1938.

Racey On 20 October, Roy Allan Racey, MRPharmS, of Danes Dyke, Llanmadoc, Swansea SA3 1DB. Mr Racey registered in 1957. He was superintendent pharmacist at Howard & Palmer and until early this year was quality assurance director at Stephar.

Snelling On 7 November, Peter Snelling, MRPharmS, of "The Thorn Trees", 246 Nottingham Road, Langley Mill, Nottingham NG16 4HG. Mr Snelling registered in 1944.

Williams On 13 October, Constance Williams, née Dando, of Barlavington Manor Residential Home, Burton Park Road, Petworth GU28 0JS. Mrs Williams registered in 1929 and retired from the register in 1933.

Williams On 19 August 2001, Gordon Eric Williams, MRPharmS, of 37 Kingsmead, Felpham, Bognor Regis, West Sussex PO22 7BD. Mr Williams registered in 1940 and retired from the register in 1999.

Tribute

Bagshaw In tribute to the late Dennis Harper Bagshaw (PJ, 23 November, p762) ROBERT WEBB, former area pharmaceutical officer for Shropshire, writes:

In 1974, soon after my appointment in Shropshire, I was introduced to Dennis by Burton Williams, who was then principal pharmacist to the Shrewsbury Hospitals. At this time Dennis was a respected and experienced community pharmacy manager in Shrewsbury. In the spring of the following year, after recovering from a serious illness, Dennis entered hospital pharmacy, at the age of 54, working with the late Harry "Wilkie" Wilkinson at Copthorne Hospital.

Dennis quickly adapted to hospital pharmacy and by the end of 1975 he was promoted to staff pharmacist, following Wilkie's retirement. Dennis's greatest attributes were his enthusiasm, an ability to learn quickly and improvisational skills. Thus, when in early 1976 an opportunity arose for direct pharmaceutical involvement in the provision of radiopharmaceuticals, Dennis was the man for the job. With valued advice from Dr Stuart Hesslewood, regional radiopharmacist, he set about the task with his usual enthusiasm. By June 1976 Dennis was producing the radioisotope injections for the newly commissioned gamma camera on the Copthorne site.

The facilities (not much more than a fume cupboard) that were available to Dennis were situated in a sideroom in the scanning unit. With his newly acquired knowledge and skills Dennis quickly became an integrated member of the developing scanning team. Thus, Dennis became a clinical pharmacist before we had the resources to develop formal ward pharmacy schemes.

Later in 1976 the construction of the pharmacy in the new Royal Shrewsbury Hospital started. Two aseptic rooms had been planned and, at the equipping stage, one became a radiopharmacy, promising Dennis the benefits of clean room and laminar flow technology. In August 1977 the new pharmacy was handed over and soon after Dennis moved into his new domain. Against the advice of the Shropshire Health Authority, the pharmacy had been built without a cooling plant in the air flow system. This omission caused immediate concern and by the summer of 1978 working temperatures in the radiopharmacy had become impossibly high. Not to be beaten, Dennis found an unoccupied room containing a fume cupboard (planned as a bone bank) reasonably close to the radiology department in the new hospital. This room was promptly annexed by the pharmacy and became the location from which Dennis provided radiopharmaceuticals to the Shropshire Hospitals until April 1980 when he returned to the purpose built radiopharmacy, the first phase of the remedial works having been completed.

Dennis had indifferent health but never complained. He was a kindly and courteous man who set himself high standards and showed great determination in maintaining these standards whatever the circumstances.

Following my retirement in 1996 there was time to visit Dennis and his wife Marjorie, Dennis having retired 1985. We also had regular telephone conversations, the last one taking place three weeks before Dennis's sudden death.

Our thoughts must now be with Marjorie, their sons Howard and Stephen, and their families.

MICHAEL SHEMILT, director of pharmaceutical services, Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, Shropshire, writes:

I first met Dennis Bagshaw when I moved from the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry, to take up the post of staff pharmacist (production) at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in 1979.

Dennis taught me most of what I know about radiopharmacy. Not only was he a great teacher and mentor, he had the ability to make the experience fun. I shall never forget the twinkle in his eye and his sometimes mischievous nature.

Dennis also had a way with computers and in the days of the first steam driven personal computers, Dennis wrote a program that calculated radioisotope decay. This allowed the appropriate volume of injections to be drawn up. The program also enabled the production of labels for use with these. The fact that we are still using the program today, with only minor modification, is a great tribute to Dennis.

Dennis retired in 1985 a very young 65. I remember thinking to myself at the time that he was 65 going on 24. Dennis was a credit to the profession and will be sadly missed by his family and friends. I count myself lucky to have known him.

ROGER SKEWS, chief pharmacist at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, writes:

When I first met Dennis Bagshaw in 1981, he was already well established in the second phase of his career. Having completed his pharmacy training at Nottingham University in 1944, he had continued his studies and also qualified as an optician in 1947.

For nine years he practised as managing director of Corfield & Corfield City Homeopathic Pharmacy in Birmingham, then moved to Shrewsbury as manager of John Adams Chemists, practising there for the next 20 years.

In 1975, after recovering from a serious illness, he decided on a second phase to his career, a new challenge, and moved to the Copthorne Hospital pharmacy in Shrewsbury, rapidly gaining both new skills and promotion.

Here he developed the embryonic radiopharmacy service and when in 1977 the new Royal Shrewsbury Hospital opened, Dennis at once chose to specialise in radiopharmacy, initiating many of the new techniques and facilities required. Hugely enthusiastic, highly intelligent and an eloquent teacher, Dennis pioneered these services throughout the hospitals in Shropshire in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His self-taught skills as a computer programmer also enabled him to convert the complex mathematics necessary into automated programs (so elegant they are still used today). Elected a full member of the British Nuclear Medicine Society he was a man ahead of his time.

In 1985 at 65 years of age, Dennis was far too young to retire, but his family was all important, and he did.

His ever present mischievous grin, enthusiasm, and inherent concern for both colleagues and patients, endeared him to us all. I was truly privileged to work with such a shining example of the pharmaceutical profession.

Briggs In a tribute to the late Alan Briggs (PJ, 23 November, p762), WILLIAM W. BINNS writes:

Alan was one of a trio of academic pharmacists who had attended Barnsley Holgate Grammar School in the 1930s, served apprenticeships in Barnsley pharmacies, obtained pharmacy qualifications at the "Square" in the 1940s and then joined the junior staff of the school at the end of the war in 1945. The other two are Vernon Askam, who died 13 years ago and myself. I first met Alan when we both arrived at the Square in October 1943 to study on the BPharm course, the school having just returned to London from Cardiff. We soon became good friends and in our second year shared "digs" in north London.

During the late 1940s, Alan, Vernon and I played cricket for the Square, probably with more Yorkshire enthusiasm than prowess and in the winter months practised at Alf Gover's cricket school in Wandsworth.

Alan had a career-long association with the Square, specialising in microbiology, but lecturing also on pharmacy law and practice. He was quiet and unassuming, but sociable and friendly. He was an energetic organiser, bringing great enthusiasm to whatever activity he undertook and he was always reliable.

Since 1995, he had been largely responsible for arranging reunions at Brunswick Square for the older alumni of the school and I am glad that I was able to see him for the last time in good form at the most recent function in September. Alan's diligence and honesty probably explain why he spent much of his spare time as treasurer of various organisations, starting with the Students' Union in 1944 and at the time of his death, the Roxbourne Horticultural Society.

I have lost a good friend and he will be sadly missed by many in the Harrow area who knew and admired him. I extend my heartfelt sympathy to his widow Louise and children Hilary and Graeme.

JACK OAKLEY writes:

I first met Alan Briggs in September 1991 when I was organising a "Square" reunion for pharmacists who had attended the School of Pharmacy when I was teaching there during the period 1937 to 1945. The Square was evacuated to Cardiff at the outbreak of war.

The first reunion that I organised was attended by Dr and Mrs Briggs. These reunions were held annually until 1998, when I had difficulty in finding sufficient numbers to attend. Fortunately I saw an advertisement for a reunion in The Pharmaceutical Journal. It was for members who had been at the Square from 1945 to 1955 and was being organised by Dr Briggs. He too was having difficulty in finding sufficient numbers to attend so we decided to have a joint reunion for the years 1937 to 1955. This was a success and we ran the reunions jointly until the last few years when he did the organising with some assistance from me.

He was also a talented gardener, in addition to the tributes paid to him by Joan Greenleaf (PJ, 23 November, p763).

Alan was a splendid, skillful and most friendly person. He will be sadly missed by so many people, who had known him at the Square, and elsewhere, for so long.

Hart In a tribute to the late Noel Barrington Hart, née Black (see p872), MARGARET and JOHN SAVAGE write:

My wife and I have both known Mrs Noel Hart all our professional lives, even before we knew each other.

My wife Margaret started attending the York branch meetings as a student in 1954. I registered as a student one year later in 1955. Mrs Hart introduced herself to me as vice-chairman and became chairman in 1959, the year I qualified. She made both of us feel welcome and promised us that pharmacy was a well respected and worthwhile profession to join and hoped we would enjoy the years ahead of us.

Mrs Hart had a forthright personality and was a stickler for observing protocols and maintaining the highest standards — she would never tolerate any behaviour that might compromise her professional integrity or reflect badly on pharmacy. But it was the genuine warmth of her friendship that left the greatest impression and sealed our acceptance of her friendship along with the invitation to drop the formal "Mrs Hart" title and just call her Noel.

She worked in both hospital pharmacy and in "retail pharmacy" (before the name was changed to community pharmacy.)

Noel always worked in the capacity of a locum. Apart from her hospital employment she would only accept a locum engagement from an independent proprietor and would not work for any multiple pharmacies. Noel said she had no ambition to own her own pharmacy, explaining that her family came first. Locum work could be picked up with no greater commitment than the period of the engagement. But when she did work as a locum, no one could doubt her commitment.

Noel qualified in 1942 — in the middle of the 1939–45 war — after studying at Leeds medical school and an apprenticeship in Somerset. Noel met with some hostility to being accepted as a woman pharmacist but she easily overcame any such chauvinism with her abilities and talents.

She returned to Yorkshire and was much in demand as a locum in and around York. Because of the war public transport was severely curtailed and Noel did not have a car at that time and in any case petrol was rationed, so she bravely supplemented the rail services that were available by the use of her pedal cycle. Noel would recall, with disarming modesty, how she would catch a train from York to Malton, with her bike in the guard's van, then cycle to Pickering before starting her locum engagement. Noel prided herself that she should arrive for any locum work before the pharmacy was due to open.

Noel was the most enthusiastic branch member you can imagine, serving on the committee for as long as I can remember until 1992. She was also the dinner secretary for many years. Noel was elected as branch chairman for the second time in 1992, the same year that Noel and her husband George celebrated their golden wedding anniversary with a family party. Failing health prevented them from having such a high key celebration for her diamond anniversary this year.

We have had much to thank Noel for and much to admire; we regarded her as the doyen of pharmacy in York. She set the standard and expected any other pharmacist's performance to, at least, equal her own high standard of uncompromising professionalism.

She leaves George, her husband of 60 years, and four sons, one of whom, much to Noel's delight, married Sharon, who is a pharmacist, so there still is a pharmacist in the family.

Howard In a tribute to the late William Arthur Howard (PJ, 23 November, p762), PHILIP ANSON writes:

Bill Howard was a leading member of the Eastbourne branch of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, even continuing to serve on the branch committee after ill health left him unable to speak. Bill served the Eastbourne branch from the 1950s onwards. After his retirement, he was always the first to volunteer if the branch was setting up a stand at an exhibition and needed members to attend it.