Dr Averil Olive Mansfield

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

ChM

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

FRCP (born 21 June 1937) is a retired English

vascular surgeon Vascular surgery is a surgical subspecialty in which diseases of the vascular system, or arteries, veins and lymphatic circulation, are managed by medical therapy, minimally-invasive catheter procedures and surgical reconstruction. The specialty ...

. She was a

consultant surgeon In the United Kingdom, Ireland, and parts of the Commonwealth, consultant is the title of a senior hospital-based physician or surgeon who has completed all of their specialist training and been placed on the specialist register in their chosen ...

at St Mary's Hospital in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, from 1982 to 2002, and in 1993 she became the first British woman to be appointed a professor of surgery.

Early life

Averil Mansfield was born in 1937 in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. Her mother suffered

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enla ...

and a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain p ...

during her difficult birth, which later influenced Mansfield's specialism in her medical career. She wanted to become a surgeon from the age of eight, after being inspired by a children's book about advances in surgery. She was educated at Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls and went on to attend the

University of Liverpool School of Medicine The University of Liverpool School of Medicine is a medical school located in Liverpool, United Kingdom and a part of the University of Liverpool. It is one of the largest medical schools in the UK, and in 1903 became one of the first to be in ...

, gaining a

Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1960.

Career

Mansfield began her career at the

Royal Liverpool University Hospital The Royal Liverpool University Hospital (RLUH) is a major teaching and research hospital located in the city of Liverpool, England. It is the largest and busiest hospital in Merseyside and Cheshire, and has the largest emergency department of i ...

, and became a consultant vascular surgeon there in 1972 and later a lecturer in surgery at the University of Liverpool. She then moved to London in 1980 to work at

Hillingdon Hospital Hillingdon Hospital is an NHS hospital in Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon, Greater London. It is one of two hospitals run by the Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the other being Mount Vernon Hospital. History The hospitals has its origi ...

. Two years later, she was appointed by St Mary's Hospital in

as a consultant vascular surgeon. She was an honorary senior lecturer at

St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, wit ...

, which merged with the

Imperial College School of Medicine Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...

in 1988. She remained at St Mary's for the rest of her career, while also serving as an honorary consultant in paediatric and vascular surgery at

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

. In 1991, Mansfield was the founding chairwoman of the RCS's Women in Surgical Training committee. In 1993, she was made a professor of vascular surgery at St Mary's Hospital, making her the first female professor of surgery in the United Kingdom. She was appointed a

in 1999 for services to surgery and women in medicine. Mansfield retired from surgery in 2002. She was made a

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in 2005, and was elected president of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...

in 2009–2010. In 2012 she was voted one of "100 Women Who Have Changed the World" by ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

''. She founded Women in Surgery, a Royal College of Surgeons initiative to encourage more women to enter the field. In May 2018, she was given a NHS Heroes Award.

Personal life

Mansfield married John William Paulton Bradley, known as Jack, a fellow surgeon, in 1987. He died in 2013. On 18 October 2020 she was the castaway on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, interviewed by Lauren Lavern
BBC Radio 4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mansfield, Averil 1937 births Living people British vascular surgeons Women surgeons Academics of Imperial College London Academics of the University of Liverpool Alumni of the University of Liverpool Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls People from Blackpool Physicians of St Mary's Hospital, London