Notes and News
2
361 Moreton District Hospital. He took the M.D. with commenda- tion in 1934. L. J. W. writes: " Nicholson was a gifted mathematician who published papers in Biometrika. Between 1936 and 1946 he carried out pioneer work on pelvimetry by X rays in which both the technique and the measurements were treated mathematically. He concluded that the conjugate diameter of the female pelvis was a sensitive index of nutrition. At the age of 79 he learnt Russian and spent his last years in translating and abstracting articles from Russian medical journals. He read widely and had many interests, from colour photography to church fonts, so that his days were never long enough for all that he wished to do. It was impossible to meet him without being aware that one was in the presence of a man with a unique intelligence and this seemed to remain undimmed by age. His death has removed from the Cotswold scene not only a much loved doctor but also a man of unusual force of character and in- tellectual capacity." Appointments BARNES, C. G., M.B. Lond., M.R.C.P.: consultant physician, departments of physical medicine and rheumatology, London Hospital. BUCKELL, HELEN M. B., M.B., PH.D. Lond., M.C.PATH. : consultant chemical pathologist, Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital. CORNISH, K. A., M.R.C.S., D.P.M.: consultant psychiatrist, Rampton Hos- pital, Retford. ERULKAR, JOSEPH, M.B. Durh., M.R.C.P., D.C.H., D.P.M.: consultant child psychiatrist, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester University, and Salford County Borough clinics. FENTON, G. W., M.B. Belf., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.P.E., D.P.M.: consultant neuro- physiologist, Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital. HARRIS, RUTH F., M.D. Lond., D.c.H.: consultant neurophysiologist, Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital. JAYACHANDRA, C. R., M.B. Mysore, M.R.C.P.E., D.c.H.: consultant pxdia- trician, Oldham and District, and Ashton, Hyde, and Glossop hospital groups. MEHTA, H. K., M.B. Bombay, F.R.c.s., D.o.: consultant ophthalmologist, Caernarvon Eye and Cottage Hospital, Wales. MORTIMER, J. G. M., M.B. Glasg., D.P.H., D.OBST.: M.O.H. and school M.O., Bedford. SOUTAR, W. A., M.B. Edin., F.R.C.S.E.: orthopaedic consultant, Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh. SMITH, N. V., M.B. Sheff.: M.D., Nottingham teaching hospital and medical- school planning team. Birmingham Regional Hospital Board: COOK, P. L., M.B. Lond., D.M.R.D., D.OBST.: consultant radiologist, Coventry group. JOHNSON, MARGARET A., M.B. Birm., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant antsthetist Coventry group. ORRELL, D. H., M.A., M.B. Lond.: consultant pathologist, South Warwick- shire group. VICKERS, M. D. A., M.B. Lond., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anxsthetist, Birmingham (Dudley Road) group. North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board: ARENDT, G. J., M.B. Polish School of Medicine, Edin., M.R.C.O.G.: con- sultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Thames hospital group. GLICK, 1. W., M.B. Witwatersrand, M.R.C.P. : consultant physician, Forest hospital group. GOONETILLEKE, A. S. R., M.B. Ceylon, D.P.M. : consultant psychiatrist, Royal Eastern Counties hospital group. Western Regional Hospital Board: EMSLIE, J. A. N., M.D. Glasg., DIP. BACT.: consultant bacteriologist, Ayrshire area laboratory service. MCCARDEL, J. D., M.B. Glasg., F.R.C.S.G. : orthopaedic consultant, Kil- marnock Infirmary. MULLIN, P. J., M.B. Lond., D.P.M.: consultant psychiatrist, Southern General Hospital. STUBBS, J. R. C., M.B. Durh., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaathetist, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. TODD, J. K., M.D. Glasg., F.R.C.S.E., F.R.C.S.G. : consultant surgeon, Glasgow Royal Infirmary. South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board: BULL, T. R., M.B. Lond., F.R.C.S. : consultant E.N.T. surgeon, Chelsea and Kensington hospital group. DUNBAR, ALLISON C., M.B. Edin., F.R.C.S.E., M.R.C.O.G.: consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Croydon and Warlingham Park hospital group. HICKLIN, J. A., M.B., PH.D. Lond., M.R.C.P., D.PHYS. MED.: consultant in physical medicine and rheumatology, Redhill and Netherne hospital group. Notes and News PATIENTS’ COMPLAINTS AN unpretentious report from a subcommittee 1 appointed by the Oxford Regional Hospital Board deserves attention from all concerned with patients in hospital. The subcommittee, under the chairmanship of Mrs. S. P. Hall, D.PHIL., was set up to inquire into the methods of handling suggestions, comments, or complaints by or on behalf of patients. The subcommittee jibs at the word " complaints ", which may seem to carry peevish undertones: it would prefer "comments" or " reactions ". It goes on to say that " It should no longer be thought somewhat improper or even wrong for patients or their relatives to comment on aspects of hospital treatment." Each has a right to be heard in any situation involving his or her treatment. Complaints may spring from fear or incom- prehension on the one hand or a real failure by the hospital to give satisfaction on the other. Whatever their basis, com- plaints should be promptly and effectively dealt with. The subcommittee obviously believes that complaints due to anxiety or to imperfect understanding can be much reduced by improved communication between patient and staff; and it attaches considerable importance to prior notification of patients about the workings of both outpatient and inpatient departments, maintaining that verbal explanation can usefully be supplemented by brochures. Each hospital or hospital group, it says, should evolve a code clearly understood and observed by all staff at all levels, who need to adopt an attitude " which accepts the patient’s right to be dissatisfied LIFE WITH AN L WHEN Pasteur started to look at the optical activity of tartaric acid he had to sort out the two crystal forms with tweezers under a microscope. Subsequently, less painstaking methods were developed-notably the differential attack by fungi and bacteria. It soon became clear that a consistent asymmetry was a feature of life on this planet: whenever a chemical constituent of living organisms can exist in two optically active forms only one is found in Nature. For the essential building blocks of life, the aminoacids, this is almost exclusively the L form. This tells us that natural aminoacids can be derived unambiguously from the structure of the simplest asymmetric aminoacid, L-serine-it tells us nothing about the direction in which solutions of aminoacids rotate the plane of polarised light, nor is this of any biological importance. But, from laboratory attempts to simulate a prebiotic Earth, it seems that both D and L forms were formed in equal quantities; and the selective survival of one remained a mystery. In 1961, Dr. A. S. Garay, of the Institute of Plant Breeding at Fertod, Hungary, began to investigate the effects of B particles on optically active com- pounds. He recorded changes in the ultraviolet spectra of alkaline solutions of L and D tyrosine in the presence of a B-emitter, strontium-90. After eighteen months the D-isomer had decomposed more strikingly than the L form. Garay’s tentative explanation 2 is that the " left-handed " y-rays, pro- duced as the electrons emitted in P-decay slow down, differ in their effect on left-handed and right-handed isomers, selectively destroying D forms. Royal College of Surgeons of England At a meeting of the council on Aug. 1 a diploma of fellowship was granted to A. J. Bron, and diplomas of membership were granted to J. M. De Capua, Carol J. Higgins, B. W. R. Moore, and R. D. Spicer, together with those mentioned in our report last week (p. 293) of a comitia at the Royal College of Physicians. 1. Oxford Regional Hospital Board: an inquiry into the methods of handling suggestions, comments or complaints made by or on behalf of patients. Issued by the Board, Old Road, Headington, Oxford. 2. Garay, A. S. Nature, Lond. 1968, 219, 338.
Transcript of Notes and News
361
Moreton District Hospital. He took the M.D. with commenda-tion in 1934.
L. J. W. writes:" Nicholson was a gifted mathematician who published
papers in Biometrika. Between 1936 and 1946 he carried out
pioneer work on pelvimetry by X rays in which both thetechnique and the measurements were treated mathematically.He concluded that the conjugate diameter of the female pelviswas a sensitive index of nutrition. At the age of 79 he learntRussian and spent his last years in translating and abstractingarticles from Russian medical journals. He read widely andhad many interests, from colour photography to church fonts,so that his days were never long enough for all that he wishedto do. It was impossible to meet him without being aware thatone was in the presence of a man with a unique intelligence andthis seemed to remain undimmed by age. His death hasremoved from the Cotswold scene not only a much loveddoctor but also a man of unusual force of character and in-tellectual capacity."
Appointments
BARNES, C. G., M.B. Lond., M.R.C.P.: consultant physician, departments ofphysical medicine and rheumatology, London Hospital.
BUCKELL, HELEN M. B., M.B., PH.D. Lond., M.C.PATH. : consultant chemicalpathologist, Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital.
CORNISH, K. A., M.R.C.S., D.P.M.: consultant psychiatrist, Rampton Hos-pital, Retford.
ERULKAR, JOSEPH, M.B. Durh., M.R.C.P., D.C.H., D.P.M.: consultant childpsychiatrist, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, ManchesterUniversity, and Salford County Borough clinics.
FENTON, G. W., M.B. Belf., M.R.C.P., M.R.C.P.E., D.P.M.: consultant neuro-physiologist, Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital.
HARRIS, RUTH F., M.D. Lond., D.c.H.: consultant neurophysiologist,Bethlem Royal Hospital and Maudsley Hospital.
JAYACHANDRA, C. R., M.B. Mysore, M.R.C.P.E., D.c.H.: consultant pxdia-trician, Oldham and District, and Ashton, Hyde, and Glossop hospitalgroups.
MEHTA, H. K., M.B. Bombay, F.R.c.s., D.o.: consultant ophthalmologist,Caernarvon Eye and Cottage Hospital, Wales.
MORTIMER, J. G. M., M.B. Glasg., D.P.H., D.OBST.: M.O.H. and school M.O.,Bedford.
SOUTAR, W. A., M.B. Edin., F.R.C.S.E.: orthopaedic consultant, RoyalInfirmary, Edinburgh.
SMITH, N. V., M.B. Sheff.: M.D., Nottingham teaching hospital and medical-school planning team.
Birmingham Regional Hospital Board:COOK, P. L., M.B. Lond., D.M.R.D., D.OBST.: consultant radiologist,
Coventry group.JOHNSON, MARGARET A., M.B. Birm., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant antsthetist
Coventry group.ORRELL, D. H., M.A., M.B. Lond.: consultant pathologist, South Warwick-
shire group.VICKERS, M. D. A., M.B. Lond., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anxsthetist,
Birmingham (Dudley Road) group.North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board:ARENDT, G. J., M.B. Polish School of Medicine, Edin., M.R.C.O.G.: con-
sultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, Thames hospital group.GLICK, 1. W., M.B. Witwatersrand, M.R.C.P. : consultant physician, Forest
hospital group.GOONETILLEKE, A. S. R., M.B. Ceylon, D.P.M. : consultant psychiatrist,
Royal Eastern Counties hospital group.Western Regional Hospital Board:
EMSLIE, J. A. N., M.D. Glasg., DIP. BACT.: consultant bacteriologist,Ayrshire area laboratory service.
MCCARDEL, J. D., M.B. Glasg., F.R.C.S.G. : orthopaedic consultant, Kil-marnock Infirmary.
MULLIN, P. J., M.B. Lond., D.P.M.: consultant psychiatrist, SouthernGeneral Hospital.
STUBBS, J. R. C., M.B. Durh., F.F.A. R.c.s.: consultant anaathetist,Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary.
TODD, J. K., M.D. Glasg., F.R.C.S.E., F.R.C.S.G. : consultant surgeon,Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
South West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board:BULL, T. R., M.B. Lond., F.R.C.S. : consultant E.N.T. surgeon, Chelsea
and Kensington hospital group.DUNBAR, ALLISON C., M.B. Edin., F.R.C.S.E., M.R.C.O.G.: consultant
obstetrician and gynaecologist, Croydon and Warlingham Parkhospital group.
HICKLIN, J. A., M.B., PH.D. Lond., M.R.C.P., D.PHYS. MED.: consultant inphysical medicine and rheumatology, Redhill and Netherne hospitalgroup.
Notes and News
PATIENTS’ COMPLAINTS
AN unpretentious report from a subcommittee 1 appointedby the Oxford Regional Hospital Board deserves attention fromall concerned with patients in hospital. The subcommittee,under the chairmanship of Mrs. S. P. Hall, D.PHIL., was set upto inquire into the methods of handling suggestions, comments,or complaints by or on behalf of patients. The subcommittee
jibs at the word " complaints ", which may seem to carrypeevish undertones: it would prefer "comments" or" reactions ". It goes on to say that " It should no longer bethought somewhat improper or even wrong for patients ortheir relatives to comment on aspects of hospital treatment."Each has a right to be heard in any situation involving his orher treatment. Complaints may spring from fear or incom-prehension on the one hand or a real failure by the hospitalto give satisfaction on the other. Whatever their basis, com-plaints should be promptly and effectively dealt with. Thesubcommittee obviously believes that complaints due to
anxiety or to imperfect understanding can be much reducedby improved communication between patient and staff; andit attaches considerable importance to prior notification ofpatients about the workings of both outpatient and inpatientdepartments, maintaining that verbal explanation can usefullybe supplemented by brochures. Each hospital or hospitalgroup, it says, should evolve a code clearly understood andobserved by all staff at all levels, who need to adopt an attitude" which accepts the patient’s right to be dissatisfied
LIFE WITH AN L
WHEN Pasteur started to look at the optical activity of tartaricacid he had to sort out the two crystal forms with tweezersunder a microscope. Subsequently, less painstaking methodswere developed-notably the differential attack by fungi andbacteria. It soon became clear that a consistent asymmetry wasa feature of life on this planet: whenever a chemical constituentof living organisms can exist in two optically active forms onlyone is found in Nature. For the essential building blocks oflife, the aminoacids, this is almost exclusively the L form. Thistells us that natural aminoacids can be derived unambiguouslyfrom the structure of the simplest asymmetric aminoacid,L-serine-it tells us nothing about the direction in whichsolutions of aminoacids rotate the plane of polarised light, noris this of any biological importance. But, from laboratoryattempts to simulate a prebiotic Earth, it seems that bothD and L forms were formed in equal quantities; and the selectivesurvival of one remained a mystery. In 1961, Dr. A. S. Garay,of the Institute of Plant Breeding at Fertod, Hungary, began toinvestigate the effects of B particles on optically active com-pounds. He recorded changes in the ultraviolet spectra ofalkaline solutions of L and D tyrosine in the presence of aB-emitter, strontium-90. After eighteen months the D-isomerhad decomposed more strikingly than the L form. Garay’stentative explanation 2 is that the " left-handed " y-rays, pro-duced as the electrons emitted in P-decay slow down, differ intheir effect on left-handed and right-handed isomers, selectivelydestroying D forms.
Royal College of Surgeons of EnglandAt a meeting of the council on Aug. 1 a diploma of fellowship
was granted to A. J. Bron, and diplomas of membership weregranted to J. M. De Capua, Carol J. Higgins, B. W. R. Moore,and R. D. Spicer, together with those mentioned in our reportlast week (p. 293) of a comitia at the Royal College of Physicians.
1. Oxford Regional Hospital Board: an inquiry into the methods ofhandling suggestions, comments or complaints made by or on behalfof patients. Issued by the Board, Old Road, Headington, Oxford.
2. Garay, A. S. Nature, Lond. 1968, 219, 338.
362
University of Auckland, New ZealandDr. J. D. K. North has been appointed first professor of
medicine.He was educated at King’s College,
Auckland, and Otago University,where he took the M.B. in 1951. Hethen came to the University of Oxfordwith a Rhodes scholarship to studyfor a D.Phil., and before returning toNew Zealand he held a house-
appointment at the PostgraduateMedical School, London, and tookthe M.R.c.P. in 1955. After hisreturn he became a junior medicalspecialist at Auckland Hospital in
1956, and two years later he was
appointed head of the medical unitthere. In 1963 he was electedF.R.A.C.P. His special interests are
kidney transplantation and the
teaching of medicine.
Royal College of Obstetricians and GynaecologistsMr. E. A. J. Alment has been elected hon. secretary.The honorary fellowship has been conferred on Jehan Shah
Saleh and Viscount Weir, and the fellowship ad eundem onHermann Hubert Knaus and Hans-Ludwig Kottmeer.The following have been admitted to the fellowship:Frederick Edward Bryans and William Roderick Carl Tupper.
The following have been admitted to the membership:Mina Andony Abou Shagra, A. M. Addison, Adetunji Adeoba, Adedamola
Stephen Adeoye, Ahmad Adnan, Vincent Esonserivbo Aimakhu, D. K. Arey,Akhtar Azar, Abul Fazal Shaikh Badshamia, Tarak Das Banerjee, Glenis G.Bennett, David Booth, J. J. Boyd, A. D. G. Brown, Robert Brown,Katherine T. Caffrey, Khorshed Burjorji Chaina, Bimal Kumar Chaliha,Heng Cheong Chan, R. P. Child, Hee Tiat Choo, Susan K. Cole, Brenda A.Cone, L. B. D. Courtney, John Croall, B. G. Cutter, Kwashivi AgbemabieseDoe, A. M. Driscoll, J. M. Dunlop, Vincent Emeka Egwuatu, M. G. Elder,Johnson Esenowo Esenowo, Khalida Khanam Faruq, Bilquis Faruqui,W. S. Findlay, J. W. Foulds, Gita Ganguly, Arnold Gillespie, MahmoudAbdel-Hamid Mohamed Gouda, 1. S. Governor, J. 0. Greenhalf, ColetteGuillaume, Sobhagya Gupta, David Guthrie, Iffat Rabia Hakeem, MehrooDara Hansotia, Syed Jaffer Hansan, L. R. Hew, John Hodgkins, E. M. Holt,D. J. S. Hunter, Nilufar Imam, Mohammad Omar Jamal Jarallah, A. S.Johnson, D. G. Johnson, Samir Mustafa Kamel, Mamoun Chabakji Kassabji,A. L. Kennedy, Jauhar Khatoon, Shahla Khatun, Prabha Kundan LalKhurana, Raj Kohli, Kuruvilla Thomas Kokkat, Gurupada Kundu, Petro-nella C. Leighton, K. J. Little, R. A. Livingstone, A. J., Mackintosh, D. C.R. Macourt, Helen M. McG. McNie, Wilfred Magri, Krishna Bhusan Mallick,Sarla Velji Maroo, J. T. Martin, Radhakrishnan Menon, A. MacG. Michael,A. J. Minchin, Krishna Moitra, P. L. Monks, Usha Dilip Mukhtyar, VimalChensukhlal Munot, Uma Charan Nag, W. C. McL. K. Naismith, Tatch-wenglie Boniface Nasah, C. H. Naylor, Pauline M. Naylor, Boniface AmaObi, H. S. O’Connor, John Edward Adetokubo Oni-Orisan, Savita Rama-chandra Pandit, Maria-Danuta Paszkowski, P. J. Paterson, Adeline W.Patterson, Wing Foo Pau, D. A. Penny, I. B. Peters, Amod Prakash, J. M.Quilter, Shahnaz Qureshi, D. J. Rawling, Gayatri Sarkar, Hala Sarsam,Athip Saungsomboon, Om Sawhney, F. C. M. Schokman, John BeocherScrimgeour, Anubha Sen, Aftab Afroz Shah, Frank Sharp, Mukhtiar SinghSidhu, Barbara J. Simpson, B. F. C. Smith, T. S. Spencer, S. J. Steigrad,G. M. Stirrat, Jamal Yacub Sunna’, Tadros Samean Tadros, Yan PohColin Tan, Philip Seng Kee Teo, Eng Soon Teoh, C. D. Venning, R. H.T. Ward, P. F. Whiteley, R. H. Williams, Rosemary Williams, SimonMarshall Wood, Asif Zia.
London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineDr. Peter Taylor has been appointed physician-in-charge of
the information and service section of the new T.U.C. Instituteof Occupational Health incorporated in the department ofoccupational health and applied physiology. The section,which is to provide an advisory service and lay education inoccupational health and is to undertake ad-hoc investigationsinto the health of people at work, will be available to tradeunions, employers, industrial medical officers, and occu-
pational hygienists.
Dr. R. Powell has been appointed a member of the food researchadvisory committee of the Agricultural Departments in GreatBritain.
Pamphlets and Reports
The Work of W.H.O., 1967. The director-general’s annualreport to the World Health Assembly and the United Nationscontains a detailed list of projects under way in each of the W.H.O.’sfive regions, and chapters summarising progress during the year.(Obtainable from H.M. Stationery Office and other W.H.O. salesagents.$2; 12s.)
Atlas of Tumor Pathology. Two further volumes of thisatlas have been published: section vn, fascicle 26, is on Tumors ofthe Gallbladder and Extrahepatic Bile Ducts, and fascicle 1 (secondseries) is on Tumors of the Soft Tissues. (Obtainable post-free fromthe American Registry of Pathology, Room G-16, Armed ForcesInstitute of Pathology, Washington, D.C. 20305.$3.35 and$4.00,respectively.)
Structure and Function of Inhibitory Neuronal Mechanisms.The Fourth International Meeting of Neurobiologists was held inStockholm in September, 1966. (Oxford: Pergamon. 9 5s.)
World Health Statistics Annual : vol. m, health personneland hospital establishments. (H.M. Stationery Office and otherW.H.O. sales agents. E2,$6.75.)
Brain Function and Learning. The fourth of a series of con-ferences on Brain Function sponsored by the Brain Research Institute,University of California, and the U.S. Air Force Office for ScientificResearch, held in November, 1964. (Los Angeles: University ofCalifornia Press. London: Cambridge. E7 2s. 6d.)
Psychiatry. Part III (free communications) of the four-part pro-ceedings of the Fourth World Congress of Psychiatry is now available.(Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica. E41 [complete].)
The Lung. The eighth of a series of Monographs on Pathologyinitiated by the International Academy of Pathology: the chapters areexpansions of papers read at the annual meeting held in Cleveland,Ohio, in March, 1966. (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. Edinburgh:E. &. S. Livingstone. E6 17s. 6d.)
The 1968 Revision of the Standard Certificates. Dr. Robert D.Grove, of the Division of Vital Statistics, National Center for HealthStatistics, discusses the 1968 revision of certificates for live births,deaths and foetal deaths, and marriage, divorce, and annulment in theU.S.A. (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.$0.41.)
A Compendium of University Entrance Requirements. Com-piled from material provided to the Committee of Vice-Chancellorsand Principals by the 44 universities in the United Kingdom. (Ob-tainable from Percy Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd., the County Press,Priestman Street, Bradford 8. 15s. 6d., post-free.)
Internationale Klassifikation der Krankheiten: 8. Revision.This is a German translation of the 8th (1967) revision of the Inter-national Classification of Diseases. (Basle and New York: Karger.London: Academic Press. Sw. fr./DM 25;$6; 50s.)
Nutrition in Renal Disease. The proceedings of a conferenceheld at the University of Manchester in June, 1967. (Edinburgh:E. & S. Livingstone. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. Toronto:Macmillan. 50s.;$7.95.)
Record Linkage in Medicine. The proceedings of an inter-national symposium, held in Oxford in July, 1967. (Edinburgh:E. & S. Livingstone. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. Toronto:Macmillan. 70s.;$11.25.)
Microcirculation as Related to Shock. The proceedings of aconference held in Boston early last year. (New York: AcademicPress.$11.50.)
The Mentally Abnormal Offender. A Ciba Foundation Syni-posium held in June, 1967: participants included psychiatrists,psychologists, and penologists, and experience in many Europeancountries was summarised. (London: Churchill. 60s.)
