This page lists pioneers and innovators in healthcare either in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

or by

Welsh people The Welsh ( cy, Cymry) are an ethnic group native to Wales. "Welsh people" applies to those who were born in Wales ( cy, Cymru) and to those who have Welsh ancestry, perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and sh ...

, including in

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

surgery Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

and

health policy Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society".World Health Organization''Health Policy'' accessed 22 March 2011(Web archive)/ref> According to the ...

Medical pioneers

George Owen Rees George Owen Rees (November 1813 – 27 May 1889) was a Welsh-Italian physician. Life Born at Smyrna in November 1813, he was son of Josiah Rees, a Levantine merchant and British consul there. His mother was born in Newfoundland, Canada. Thomas ...

(1813–1889), the first to analyse the chemistry of urine and also did new work on the nature and shape of the blood corpuscles. *

George Edward Day George Edward Day (1815–1872) was a Welsh physician. Life He was born on 4 August 1815 at Tenby, Pembrokeshire. He was the son of George Day of Manorabon House, Swansea; his father had inherited the fortunes of his own father, George Day, phys ...

(1815–1872), reformed to medical examinations * William Roberts (1830–1899), introduced the term Antagonism into microbiology and one of the first to describe the action of antibiotics including penicillin *

Frances Hoggan Frances Elizabeth Hoggan (''née'' Morgan; 20 December 1843 – 5 February 1927) was a Welsh doctor and the first British woman to receive a doctorate in medicine from any university in Europe. She was also a pioneering medical practitioner, rese ...

(1843–1927), various research including the anatomy and physiology of lymph nodes *

Robert Armstrong-Jones Sir Robert Armstrong-Jones, (born Robert Jones; 2 December 1857 – 30 January 1943) was a Welsh physician and psychiatrist. Biography He was born in Ynyscynhaearn, Caernarvonshire, the son of a Congregational minister. He was educated at ...

(1857–1943), instituted special training for mental health nurses and occupational therapy for patients, and developed modern methods to treat mental diseases * Llewellyn Jones Llewellyn (1871–1934), an authority on rheumatism and related diseases * Thomas Lewis (1881–1945), pioneer cardiologist and clinical scientist * William Evans (1895–1988), cardiology; description of the anatomy of coarctation of the aorta; controls in drug trials; studies on electrocardiography; first accurate description of ‘familial cardiomegaly’ * Horace Evans (1903–1963), linked hypertension and nephritis * Denis John Williams (1908–1990), did pioneering work on using

EEG Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex ...

to study cerebral disease * John David Spillane (1909–1985), established the modern study of Tropical Neurology *

Eluned Woodford-Williams Eluned "Lyn" Woodford-Williams (12 September 1913 – 25 November 1984) was a British geriatrician. As the leader of the geriatric unit at Sunderland, she was a pioneer in geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry. Early life Eluned Woodford ...

(1913–1984), established geriatrics as a speciality and began practice of admitting all patients over 65 year old to her unit *

D. Geraint James David Geraint James FRCP (2 January 1922 – 20 October 2010) was a Welsh physician who devoted his career to the treatment of sarcoidosis, setting up a specialist clinic for the condition and earning the nickname "King of Sarcoid". In 1958, h ...

(1922–2010), classifyied the clinical and radiological features of sarcoidosis * Julian Tudor-Hart (1927–2018), Local population health and hypertension among other topics * Keith Peters (born 1938), improved understanding of glomerulonephritis *

Dafydd Stephens Dafydd Stephens (2 July 1942 – 2 July 2012) was an audiological physician, holding the post of Honorary Professor of Audiological Medicine at the Cardiff University School of Medicine at Cardiff University. He was also a visiting professor ...

(1942–2012), founder of audiological medicine

Surgical pioneers

Hugh Owen Thomas Hugh Owen Thomas (23 August 1834 – 6 January 1891) was a Welsh orthopaedic surgeon. He and his nephew Robert Jones have been called "the Fathers of orthopaedic surgery". Thomas was descended from a line of Welsh bone setters and placed great i ...

(1834–1891), pioneered orthopaedic surgery techniques including the

Thomas splint A traction splint most commonly refers to a splinting device that uses straps attaching over the pelvis or hip as an anchor, a metal rod(s) to mimic normal bone stability and limb length, and a mechanical device to apply traction (used in an a ...

and

Thomas test The Thomas test is a physical examination test, named after the Welsh orthopaedic surgeon, Hugh Owen Thomas (1834–1891), to rule out hip flexion contracture (fixed partial flexion of the hip) and psoas syndrome (injury to the psoas muscle) ...

* Robert Jones (1857–1933), he stablished orthopaedic surgery as a modern speciality. His organisational skills, treatments and rehabilitation of soldiers saved many lives during the first World War. He pioneered the use of radiography and the Jones fracture is named after him * William Thelwall Thomas (1865–1927), pioneer of abdominal surgery; introducing the detempered needle, the black silkworm gut, and large-handled Spencer Wells forceps. He also introduced the transvere incision for an umbilical hernia repair; introduced the double incision for double renal calculi at the kidney and ureter; and made a significant investigation into the composition of renal calculi * Tudor Thomas (1893–1976), pioneer of corneal grafting

Policy

(1843–1927), first Welsh female physician and advocated for gender equality in medicine *

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during t ...

(1863–1945), the

National Insurance Act 1911 The National Insurance Act 1911 created National Insurance, originally a system of health insurance for industrial workers in Great Britain based on contributions from employers, the government, and the workers themselves. It was one of the foun ...

. *

Mary Morris Mary Lilian Agnes Morris (13 December 1915 – 14 October 1988) was a Fijian born British actress. Life and career Morris was the daughter of Herbert Stanley Morris, a botanist, and his wife, Sylvia Ena de Creft-Harford. She trained at the Roy ...

(1873–1925), first woman to train as a doctor at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, admitted in 1895. Possibly the first woman to train in medicine in Wales. *

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

(1897–1960), creation of the

National Health Service 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 " ...

. *

(1913–1984), influenced government policy on geriatrics, improving geriatric services * Julian Tudor-Hart (1927–2018), social advocate and devised the term Inverse care law *

Timothy Stamps Timothy John Stamps (15 October 1936 – 26 November 2017) was a Welsh and Zimbabwean politician and doctor who served in the Government of Zimbabwe as Minister of Health from 1986 to 2002. For most of that period, he was the only white member ...

(1936–2017), reformed and improved Zimbabwe's healthcare system. * Ilora Finlay (born 1949), regulation of smoking, organ donation, sunbeds alcohol pricing, and improvements in palliative care

References

{{Health in Wales Healthcare in Wales Science and technology in Wales

Medical pioneers

Surgical pioneers

Policy

See also

References