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Obituary: George Mitchell

The Independent, Thursday, September 30, 1993.

George Patrick Mitchell, orthopaedic surgeon: born Insch, Aberdeenshire 25 February 1917; President, British Orthopaedic Association 1982-84; married 1943 Hazel Gough (two daughters); died Edinburgh 2 September 1993.

GEORGE MITCHELL was one of a group of outstanding orthopaedic surgeons who became established in Edinburgh in the 1950s and 1960s.

Each surgeon was encouraged to develop an individual sub-speciality interest, and Mitchell elected paediatric orthopaedic surgery. In the 1950s, he set up a screening service in the Lothians for children with congenitally dislocated hips, with results that were equal to the best in the world. He also introduced into British orthopaedic practice a variety of operations on the pelvis used in the management of hip deformities in young patients. In 1982 and 1983 he was elected President of the British Orthopaedic Association.

Mitchell was born in Aberdeenshire in 1917, the son of a much-loved local general practitioner, and was drawn to medicine at an early age. He was educated at Glenalmond School, in Perthshire, where he was captain of the team which won the Ashburton Cup at Bisley in 1933. In 1935 he won the Ivy Cup for individual marksmanship. He was to remain a fine marksman for the rest of his life.

Whilst at medical school in Aberdeen, he held a reserve commission in the 4th/7th Royal Dragoons which allowed him to develop his considerable equestrian skills. On completion of his studies he became Medical Officer to the 23rd Hussars. It was at this time that he met Hazel Gough, who was a Wren working at Bletchley Park. Their marriage provided George Mitchell with unstinting and dedicated support over the following 50 years. They were due to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary a few days after his death.

Mitchell was wounded during the Normandy landings and received the MC for gallantry under fire. At the time of his injury, he had developed a special interest in stress reaction to battle. It reflects on his personal quality of leadership that no man in his regiment fell victim to shell shock during that campaign.

In 1946, he joined Joseph Trueta's department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Oxford as a registrar, where under the particular influence of Edgar Somerville, a consultant in that department, he developed a lifelong interest in children's orthopaedics. In 1954, he was appointed Orthopaedic Consultant to the Edinburgh Area, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Edinburgh University, under first Sir Walter Mercer and later JIP'Jip' James.

As a result of George Mitchell's work in children's orthopaedics, many young men from throughout the world were attracted to Edinburgh, to his unit at the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital. Mitchell himself was always immaculate in appearance and well prepared. He organised his surgical service with military precision. Any young registrar was left in no doubt as to the standards expected of him, but industry and conscientiousness on their behalf were rewarded with friendship, support and fierce loyalty.

He applied the same enthusiasm and discipline to his many recreational interests - shooting, fishing, sailing. In his late thirties he took up skiing. With training and instruction on the Pentland dry slope before each annual European holiday, he became an extremely elegant and fearless downhill skier.

Weekends and holidays were often spent at the Old School House, his country retreat at Buittle, in Kirkcudbrightshire, where, surrounded by friends, family and dogs, he took a particular delight in instructing his daughters and grandchildren in his favourite outdoor activities.

It was a measure of the man that only a short time before his death, and clearly in considerable discomfort, he continued to fish and sail with the family. He had planned a party at the New Club in Edinburgh on the night of the festival fireworks. His health seriously deteriorated but he insisted that the party should go on without him. He died quietly that night as the fireworks illuminated the magnificent Edinburgh skyline which he so admired.

Author: PETER ABERNETHY