William Bryan Jennett (1 March 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a British neurosurgeon, a faculty member at the
University of Glasgow Medical School
The University of Glasgow School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing is the medical school of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and is one of the largest in Europe, offering a 5-year MBChB degree course. It is ranked 2nd in the UK for medicine ...
, and the first full-time chair of neurosurgery in Scotland. He was the co-developer of the assessment tool known as the
Glasgow Coma Scale
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a clinical scale used to reliably measure a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury.
The GCS assesses a person based on their ability to perform eye movements, speak, and move their body. These thre ...
and made advancements in the care of patients with brain injuries. in 1972, Jennett and the neurologist
Fred Plum
Fred Plum (January 10, 1924 – June 11, 2010) was an American neurologist who developed the terms
"persistent vegetative state" and "locked-in syndrome" as part of his continuing research on consciousness and comas and care of the comatose.
...
coined the term ''
vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state (PVS) or post-coma unresponsiveness (PCU) is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. After four weeks in a vegetative stat ...
''.
Early life
Jennett was born and raised in
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
to Irish and Scottish parents. Jennett was evacuated from Twickenham during the Second World War. He first moved to rural Scotland and later to
Southport, Lancashire
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
where he attended
King George V Grammar School before training as a doctor at the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
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.
Education and early career
Jennett studied at
Liverpool Medical School
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 i ...
. He finished top of his year and was President of the national British Medical Students Association. Jennett's first mentor in medicine,
Henry Cohen, 1st Baron Cohen of Birkenhead
Henry Cohen, 1st Baron Cohen of Birkenhead (21 February 1900 – 7 August 1977) was a British physician, doctor and lecturer. He was famous for his Harveian Oration at the Royal College of Physicians in 1970, on the motion of blood in the v ...
, encouraged him toward a career in neurosurgery.
He went on to take posts at Oxford, Cardiff and Manchester as well as a spell in the
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...
.
His academic interests were not congruent with the times and he was turned down for promotion in Oxford, Manchester and Dundee. He believed that the NHS at the time placed too much emphasis on patronage and were not supportive of academic interests. He considered a permanent move to America after a one-year
Rockefeller Fellowship
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carn ...
at
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
, but was headhunted in 1963 for a new combined NHS/University position in Glasgow. Over the next ten years he became a Professor and moved to a purpose built unit at the Southern General Hospital.
Prior to moving to Glasgow, Jennett published work on epilepsy following head injuries. He published ''Introduction to Neurosurgery'' in 1964.
Later career
Jennett set up a prospective computerised data bank to collect the features and outcome of head injuries. Data was compiled from Glasgow, the United States, and the
Netherlands
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, established_title = Before independence
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over a long period and led to a series of papers in the 1970s, the introduction of the near universally adopted
Glasgow Coma Scale
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a clinical scale used to reliably measure a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury.
The GCS assesses a person based on their ability to perform eye movements, speak, and move their body. These thre ...
(GCS) with
Graham Teasdale
Graham Teasdale (born 26 June 1955) is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1972 and 1975, for the South Melbourne Football Club from 1975 to 1981 a ...
, and the
Glasgow Outcome Scale
The Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS) is a scale of patients with brain injuries, such as cerebral traumas that groups victims by the objective degree of recovery. The first description was in 1975 by Jennett and Bond.
__TOC__ Application
The Glasgo ...
with Bond. In 1972 working with Dr Plum of America, Jennett published ''The Persistent Vegetative State'' – defining a condition and coining a phrase which remains in widespread use today. His work with the Glasgow-based Neuropathologists Adams and Graham significantly reduced mortality and disability. Many international collaborative studies followed, comparing outcomes after different severity of injury and with alternative therapeutic regimes.
In 1976 there was furore over a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Panorama
A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
Programme which questioned the criteria for the establishment of
brain death
Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function which may include cessation of involuntary activity necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person is alive and some aut ...
in potential organ donors.
Jennett was in demand as a speaker and in the UK contributed to medical panels and was called to Court as an expert witness, most notably for the
Tony Bland
Anthony David Bland (21 September 1970 – 3 March 1993) was a supporter of Liverpool F.C. injured in the Hillsborough disaster. He suffered severe brain damage that left him in a persistent vegetative state as a consequence of which the hospita ...
case.
Jennett was Dean of Medicine at Glasgow in the 1980s.
He worked with Barbara Stocking and Chris Ham of the
King's Fund
The King's Fund is an independent think tank, which is involved with work relating to the health system in England. It organises conferences and other events.
Since 1997, they have jointly funded a yearly award system with GlaxoSmithKline. Th ...
to establish a series of Consensus Conferences to deal with the appropriate use of high-cost medical technology.
He was President of the International Society for Technology Assessment and in 1984 he published ''High Technology Medicine: Benefits and Burdens'' followed a series of BBC talks ''Doctors, Patients & Responsibilities'' which were widely praised.
In 1988 he developed
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 ...
(DVT) which he blamed on the cramped seating on an aircraft. Along with colleagues who had similar experiences, he published a short paper in ''
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
''. This was the first use of the term "economy-class syndrome".
Jennett retired in 1991. In his later years, he was named
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
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 ...
(CBE) and received an honorary doctorate from
St Andrews University
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
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. His continuing work included a 2002 monograph, ''The Vegetative State'', and his final publication appeared in the ''
British Journal of Neurosurgery
The ''British Journal of Neurosurgery'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal that covers neurosurgery and neurology. It is published in association with the Society of British Neurological Surgeons. The editor-in-chief is Nitin Mukerji.
According to ...
'' in 2008. He died a few weeks after that final publication, having been diagnosed with
multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...
five years earlier. His wife Sheila and his three children survived him.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jennett, Bryan
1926 births
British neurosurgeons
2008 deaths
Deaths from multiple myeloma
20th-century English medical doctors
British people of Irish descent
British people of Scottish descent
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
Medical doctors from Twickenham
20th-century surgeons
20th-century British Army personnel
Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers