Philip Holland
BMJ 2014; 349 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g5527 (Published 10 September 2014) Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g5527- John Puntis
Philip Holland was enormously respected for his skill and knowledge as a paediatrician and his commitment to the welfare of both patients and junior colleagues. Born in the year the NHS came into being, he remained fiercely loyal to the principle of universal healthcare as a collective responsibility. Before medical school, Philip undertook Voluntary Service Overseas in Zambia, working as an assistant game warden and establishing a lifelong love of travel. He held training posts in London and then Worcester, where he met his future wife Jenny, a radiographer. A period of time working in Tasmania followed, before moving back to the UK and taking up posts in nephrology, oncology, and intensive care at both the Hammersmith and Great Ormond Street hospitals. Philip completed his postgraduate training in Oxford, where he also developed a persisting interest in bone disease. Outwardly quiet and unassuming, he had a compelling desire to improve both services for patients and training for junior doctors, and found ample opportunity for doing both once appointed as a consultant in Leeds in 1989. Philip helped develop not only a strong general paediatric service at the Leeds General Infirmary, but also a successful string of specialist services including the regional intensive care unit, an integrated multi-disciplinary clinic for children with enuresis, a bone health service, a clinic for neurofibromatosis patients, and a prize winning diabetes team, diabetes being one of his major areas of expertise. Stimulated by day to day work with patients, he often formulated challenging research questions that lead to publications in the fields of diabetes, infectious disease, neurology, bone health, bladder function, and obesity. His last publication, not long before he retired, was on the novel finding of bladder aquaporins.
Philip never shied away from work, and as secretary, and then chairman, guided the Child Health Committee at the Infirmary with patient good humour, showing only occasional irritation when he perceived things moving too slowly for his liking. He was known as an outstanding clinician and teacher with a passion for paediatrics, for his extensive knowledge, and for his great kindness. Passionate also about the training of junior doctors, Philip took on time consuming leadership roles including the setting up of the highly successful “Yorkshire School of Paediatrics,” aimed at providing high quality training to all junior doctors in Yorkshire. He will be remembered by the many families for whom he cared as a quiet and thoughtful doctor who listened to parents, was determined to do the best by their children, addressed their anxieties, inspired their confidence, and offered them hope and reassurance for the future. Philip was devoted to his family; in his spare time he and Jenny enjoyed activities including walking, travelling, reading, music, and tango dancing. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family. He leaves his wife, Jenny; children Olivia, Genevieve, Benedict, Dominique, and Madeleine; his mother, Audrey; his twin brother, Tony; his sister, Celia; and seven grandchildren.
Notes
Cite this as: BMJ 2014;349:g5527
Footnotes
Consultant paediatrician Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (b 1948; q University College Hospital, London, 1973; FRCPH), died from metastatic carcinoma of the oesophagus on 20 June 2014.