Gerald Keen: pioneering cardiothoracic surgeon

Cardiothoracic surgeon Gerald Keen helped pioneer techniques in cardiac surgery and achieve its regional expansion in the south west of England from the 1950s onwards. He introduced cardiopulmonary bypass to Bristol in 1965 and developed facilities for open heart surgery at a time when services outside London were comparatively under-resourced and underdeveloped.

Keen worked at Bristol Royal Infirmary, the Bristol Royal Hospital for Sick Children, and Frenchay Hospital from 1964 until 1991. His practice was originally thoracic and cardiac, both adult and paediatric, but over the years he concentrated increasingly on adult cardiac surgery, predominantly valve replacement and coronary artery bypass surgery.

Years after he had retired, Bristol Royal Infirmary was engulfed in scandal, with landmark inquiries into the deaths of children who had heart surgery there during the 1980s and 1990s which brought disgrace for two cardiac surgeons with whom Keen had worked—James Wisheart and Janardan Dhasmana.