Obituary: John Kirk, plastic surgeon

John Kirk was the youngest of four children. His father and mother were medical missionaries in China, and John was born in Edinburgh, when his parents were home on furlough.

John Kirk spent most of the first 6 years of his life in China, with some early schooling at St Leonards in Edinburgh. His parents returned to the UK from China in 1928.

His father Prof John Kirk held the Courtauld Chair of Anatomy at Middlesex from 1937 until his retirement in 1949, when the title Professor Emeritus was conferred by the University of London.

Following graduation from London in 1945, and posts at the Middlesex, John Kirk served as a Royal Navy Surgeon Lieutenant on HMS Kenya and HMS Porlock Bay, on service in the West Indies.

He trained and qualified as a general surgeon becoming FRCS in 1954. He subsequently specialised in plastic and reconstructive surgery, initially working under Rainsford Mowlem at Northwood, where he developed an interest in burns treatments. In 1955 he moved back to Scotland, to Bangour Hospital in West Lothian, where the Regional Plastic Surgery Unit, serving Edinburgh and the East of Scotland was based. He underwent further training in plastic surgery under AB Wallace.

The Tayside Plastic Surgery Service originated in a part-time visiting responsibility initiated by AB Wallace at Dundee Royal Infirmary and Bridge of Earn Hospital near Perth in 1956. Weekly operating sessions in Dundee were established with the help of Professor (later Sir) Donald Douglas. This was not the first link between plastic surgery and the hospital services in Tayside - Sir Harold Gillies visited Stracathro Hospital near Brechin in Angus on several occasions.

The clinical workload increased rapidly and in 1960 John Kirk was appointed as the Eastern Regional Hospital Board's first full-time consultant in plastic surgery.

He took a lead role in the design of a new ward for burns and plastic surgery in Tayside, and on the 30th November 1962, the newly created 20-bed regional plastic surgery unit was opened at Ward 19 in Bridge of Earn Hospital. This provided a modern and practical specialist operating and teaching centre, although without a separate burns unit. Ten beds were also provided at Dundee Royal Infirmary.

During the 1960s, waiting lists inevitably grew and John Kirk worked as a single-handed consultant for 10 years, with commitments at Bridge of Earn and Dundee, extending to Stracathro, and even to Aberdeen where there was no locally based plastic surgery service available. A long-awaited second consultant was appointed in 1970.The Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh awarded him FRCS(Ed) in July 1973.

He retired in 1983 having laid the foundations for a thriving regional reconstructive plastic surgery department.

He was a superb, tireless and devoted surgeon. He was an inspiring teacher and meticulous clinician who demanded the highest standards of himself and those with whom he worked. He was an exceptionally modest, impeccably mannered and selfless man, with a gentle wit and dry sense of humour. Other people took precedence in his thoughts, though professionally, he was a strict disciplinarian and would not let trainees get away with "less than the best" for his patients. Highly respected by professional colleagues, nursing staff, and by his students, he had time for all who contributed to the running and administration of the ward and the service. He was greatly loved by the many patients, and their families, who benefited from his surgical skills, humility and pastoral care.

Outside his clinical responsibilities he had many interests. His greatest pleasure in life was his family, and holidays were often spent in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland with his wife Elaine and their three children. Skye was a particular favourite. He became an acknowledged expert on birds and wildlife - the binoculars and telescope constant companions in the car and on the hills.

As a boy and young man he was a fine athlete and competitive sportsman excelling in athletics, cricket, rugby and squash. In adult life, when the demands of work allowed he was a keen skier, hill-walker and fisherman. He was an accomplished golfer, and was elected member of the St Andrews Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1965, which gave him enormous pleasure.

His love and appreciation of nature and wildlife were passed on to his family and his knowledge and endeavours as an expert amateur natural historian were acknowledged publicly by his appointment as president of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science, a position he was proud to hold for seven years from 1986-1993.

After retirement he was more easily able to enjoy his many other hobbies and leisure interests, although medicine did not take a complete back seat as he fulfilled a number of brief locums on the islands of Coll and Colonsay, which also afforded enjoyable bird watching opportunities.

He enjoyed painting in watercolours and his deft and evocative Scottish landscapes were occasionally to be found on exhibit in local galleries. With his wife Elaine, he was an enthusiastic gardener and had an encyclopaedic knowledge of plants. Classical music gave great pleasure and he was a regular concert and theatre goer. He was also an avid reader, with particular interests in biography, natural history and Scottish culture.

Latterly despite increasingly impaired mobility with chronic back and hip problems, and the debilitating effects of Parkinson's, he retained a sense of optimism, interest and care for others.He bore his final illness with great courage and dignity, supported by his family, and his strong Christian faith, suffering from the effects of a stroke in November 2010 which left him hospitalised. His kindness and generosity of spirit endured to the end. It was remarkable to see the affection and respect which he evoked from all the people who helped him through this very difficult time.

He was an excellent surgeon, a caring and compassionate doctor, above all a family man, a loving husband and much loved father, grandfather, and loyal friend to many. The esteem in which he is held is well summarised in a recent letter to his wife Elaine, written by a trainee who worked with him in 1968; "Although I have worked with many excellent surgeons in my time, your husband represents all that is the very best in a clinician, surgeon, teacher and above all, one of nature's true gentlemen."

He is survived by Elaine, to whom he was happily married for 60 years, his daughters Rose and Susan, son John, and five grandchildren.