James Stanley Elwood ( December 1921 – 13 December 2021) was a British pathologist who was responsible for 222 cancer misdiagnoses between 1995 and 2000.
During the period concerned he was practising as a
locum
A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...
at four
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
trusts: the
Princess Margaret Hospital in
Swindon
Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
, the
Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust, the Mid-Sussex NHS Trust and the
Frimley Park Hospital
Frimley Park Hospital is a large general hospital in Frimley, Surrey. It is managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, and houses a private wing.
History
Frimley Park Hospital was opened to provide a full range of acute services to patie ...
s NHS Trust. He also worked in
Tralee
Tralee ( ; ga, Trá Lí, ; formerly , meaning 'strand of the Lee River') is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County ...
.
Among the patients who received faulty diagnoses was archaeologist
Carenza Lewis
Professor Carenza Rachel Lewis (born 30 November 1963) is a British academic archaeologist and television presenter.
Early life
Lewis received her formal education at the school of the Church of England Community of All Hallows, in Suffolk, ...
, who later spoke publicly about the consequences of the resulting unnecessary surgery. Elwood was not subject to any disciplinary procedures, having removed his name from the British medical register. He initially refused to co-operate with the investigation of his misdiagnoses by not divulging the details of his medical career.
Elwood graduated with bachelor's degrees in medicine, surgery and obstetrics (MB BCh BAO) with second class honours from the
Queen’s University of Belfast
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in 1943.
He proceeded to a doctorate (MD) in 1947 with a thesis titled "A study of the incidence and aetiology of pulmonary complications following anaesthesia and surgical operations." He obtained a diploma in clinical pathology (DCP) from the University of London in 1947, a diploma in pathology (DPath) from the Conjoint Board for England in 1952, and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath) in 1966. The Medical Directory for 2007 lists him as having previously been a civilian consultant pathologist at the Cambridge Military Hospital at Aldershot.
Elwood died in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
on 13 December 2021.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwood, James
1921 births
2021 deaths
20th-century British medical doctors