Dr. David Hughes - An Appreciation

Dr. David Treharne Dillon Hughes BA. BSc. MA. BM BCh. FRCP

31^st October 1930 - 19^th June 2025

Consultant Physician & Vice President of the Friends of the Royal London Hospital

AN APPRECIATION

The Friends of the Royal London Hospital were very sorry to hear of the death of Dr. David Hughes. David was an Inaugural Member, a Chairman & a Vice President of the Friends. He was unwavering in his support and a generous benefactor. It was he who facilitated the formation of the Friends in November 1979, wrote our constitution and helped secure Princess Margaret Countess of Snowdon as our first Patron.

David was the son of Major General W.D.Hughes CB CBE & Mrs K.L.Hughes. He was born in Wales, his early childhood was happy and he was proudly Welsh. He married Gloria and they had three children; Carly & Amanda (both London Hospital doctors) and Edward. This Appreciation is based on the recollections of those who knew him and on the Eulogy given by Carly at his funeral.

David was a consultant chest physician when I was a student; he helped me through my training and he was a steadfast friend and colleague in later years. As one of his many students I can attest to the effectiveness of his teaching. David provided a role model for his trainees and his colleagues. He displayed exemplary leadership & he always put his patients first. He was admired by his colleagues for his expertise and he was loved by his patients, many of whom had difficult lives because of their breathing problems, for his kindness. David's energy and enthusiasm were legendary. He was not just the best of doctors; he was one of the best of humanity: modest, immensely knowledgeable, good humoured and loyal. I benefited enormously from his example, his kindness & his sagacity.

Sandra Gibby, Medical Secretary to Dr Harold Hope-Stone and latterly Dr Michael Glynn said that Harold had the greatest respect for David’s diagnostic acumen. She recounted she often had to convey ‘wet’ films (fresh chest x-rays) between the two of them, when an urgent opinion on some puzzling chest condition was needed. Dr Jerome Cotter, Consultant Anaesthetist & colleague whose recollections go back to when he was a student tutored by David considered him to be an excellent & wise clinician. In particular he has a lasting memory of David managing a distressing & very challenging situation exceptionally skilfully. Judith Walker MBE (former Co-Chair of the Friends and Warden of the Student’s Hostel ‘aka’ Floyer House) noted that although David was an important figure within the hospital and medical school, all the students liked and respected him. Sue Kopelman, a Friends’ Trustee said that she was fortunate to have met David many times not only through the Friends but also as a much respected and valued colleague of her husband, Prof. Peter Kopelman. Peter was Deputy Warden of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and became the Vice Chancellor of the University of London. She felt that David’s contribution to the Hospital, the medical school and to the Friends was immeasurable. Jonathan Evans for many years the Trust Archivist knew David through the Archives Committee and the Pathology Museum Collection of which David was the Hon. Curator. He was struck by David’s unfailing good humour, his perceptive approach and his kindness to staff.

 As David’s extensive CV and his numerous extramural commitments attest, he had a very full and extremely busy life. He was a true ‘Renaissance Man’, with an enormous range of interests and even more enthusiasms. I found that conversation with David was a delight; it could take you anywhere! Indeed, in her Eulogy Carly recalled that he had a lifelong interest in steam trains and as children they were introduced to all the great little railways of Wales.

At Cheltenham College, David played multiple sports but he also loved comical and serious poetry especially the War Poets which he would often quote, reading and the theatre. At Trinity College Oxford he threw himself in to college life, adding coxing to his sporting skills and enjoying popular music and dance. His adventurous streak was displayed in 1952 while undertaking an unconventional ‘au-pair boy’ role in Finland, when he embraced Finnish culture. Then, when planning his National Service he asked to be sent ‘as far as you will send me’ and he went to Hong Kong.

David loved company; he introduced his friends to others and hosted great parties at Ascot and at the Leander Club at Henley Royal Regatta. He joined many societies including the Royal Society of Medicine, the Apothecaries, the Savage Club and the Garrick Club. In retirement he continued his theatrical interests at the Kings’ Head Theatre Islington, both as a patron and a supporter. For many years David and Gloria visited the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe, renting a large flat on Princes Street in which they accommodated family and friends. He particularly delighted in the success of Jonathan Banatvala’s (son of an ‘old Londoner’) Edinburgh production of Abducting Diana.

When they were in their eighties David & Gloria retired to Norfolk where they had a second home. When Gloria became ill David looked after her devotedly. After she died he lived there alone through the Covid years supported by local friends and family.

David’s funeral ceremony incorporated some of his own recollections and the heartfelt tributes from his family and friends. In her Eulogy, Carly recounted that he repeatedly said what a lucky life he had had and how much he loved his family. Carly concluded ‘He may not have quite achieved a century, but I think we can agree he truly had a good innings’. We did. Then, before the Commendation & Committal we heard the magnificent music of ‘The Lord Bless You and Keep You’ recorded by the composer John Rutter with the Cambridge Singers and the City of London Sinfonia.

Career

David was the Medical Research Council scholarship research fellow University of Oxford 1952-1954; Medical Specialist, Captain Royal Army Medical Corps BMH Hong Kong 1960-1961; Eli Lilly research fellow University of California San Francisco 1963-1964; Junior hospital posts London Hospital 1957-1968; Senior Lecturer London Hospital Medical College 1968-1996; Head of Department of Clinical Investigation Wellcome Foundation 1978-1994; Consultant Physician London Hospital 1968-1996; Director Dept. Resp. Medicine 1994-96; Appointed Assessor, Dept. of Trade & Industry 1999-2010, Miners' Industrial Diseases. He was President of the International Society of Internal Medicine 1978-1980; RSM Section President, President of the Hunterian Society; General Medical Council Member 1993-96; the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries Member 1958, Court 1981-2004, Master 1992-1993. In addition, David published several books and numerous scientific papers.

Prof. Trevor Beedham. President. Friends of the Royal London Hospital