A tribute to two greats

FIPO’s touchstone: Geoffrey Glazer

Following his retirement from practice and the FIPO Board, vice-chairman Christopher Khoo, paid tribute to the magnanimous former Chairman, Geoffrey Glazer-

Geoffrey Glazer has guided FIPO through some challenging times (most recently the Competition and Markets Authorities Private Healthcare investigation, and so-called remedies). He has managed FIPO’s collaboration with PHIN, ensuring that (as he says) “there is a strong clinical voice and that the information produced is fair, statistically reliable and will assist patients.”

Geoffrey trained at St. Mary’s, the Sorbonne in Paris and spent time at Harvard in Boston researching into aspects of pancreatic disease on which he wrote a major text. He was senior Surgeon at Mary’s and part of the famous Glazer Rosin firm. President of the Pancreatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, an examiner for the FRCS and lecturer (teaching widely on surgery, quality of care and audit): he has been praised by patients in no less a journal than the Daily Mail and cited on BBC news on scar-less laparascopic surgery through the belly button and “other natural orifices”.

Geoffrey went on from Clinical activity to Administration and Organisation, including being a trustee and Medical Director of the HCA. He conceived and founded FIPO in 2001 and was himself the personification of FIPO. For the first time, FIPO brought together many specialist associations with independent practice committees, and some without. His colleague Ara, Lord Darzi launched FIPO’s Patients’ Charter in 2007.

His ideas (FIPO NatMac, FIPO CAPPS, FIPO COAG to name a few) and tenacity have been the backbone of FIPO’s activities, and although we sometimes listened rather than spoke in his presence, we admired his kindness and appreciated his experience, commitment and his warm concern – and we will miss him. We wish him and Sandra well.

 

“Many Happy Returns John Randle“

At the recent Annual General Meeting, the vice-chairman, Christopher Khoo, paid tribute to John Randle –

John Randle has shared his experience in running hospitals, his wide experience of the private sector, and his constant concern for patient care since FIPO’s first meeting in 2001. His wise counsel, practical and legal, has helped to steer FIPO’s administration, organisation and relations, both internally and externally.

John founded the Hospitals Management Trust in 1985 and retired in 2013, by which time HMT ran two hospitals and four care homes. He had in addition been assisting and advising a great number of charities and not-for-profit organisations.

John has always been available, supportive and a great friend. We will miss him and wish him well.