Geoffrey Brigden

Geoffrey Brigden (“Geoff”) was appointed as the first consultant cardiologist at Yeovil District Hospital in 1994, and along with a newly appointed stroke physician, was one of only five physicians serving a population of around 200 000. Over the next 28 years he developed a fully fledged cardiology department from scratch.

Geoff was born into a medical family. His mother was a singlehanded GP, and his father was a cardiologist. He followed in his father's footsteps.

He completed higher training, including an MD at Northwick Park, where he investigated new antihypertensives using the delicate technique of ambulatory continuous intra-arterial blood pressure monitoring. He and his wife, Julie, looked for a consultant post in the South West, leading to his appointment to Yeovil.

On joining, …