George Kenneth McKee

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 ...

(5 January 1906 – 18 July 1991) was an English

orthopaedist Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

, one of the pioneers of

hip replacement surgery Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant, that is, a hip prosthesis. Hip replacement surgery can be performed as a total replacement or a hemi (half) replacement. Such joint replacement o ...

in the 1950s. He is now honoured with a bust at the

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) is a large National Health Service academic teaching hospital in the Norwich Research Park on the western outskirts of Norwich, England. The university hospital replaced the former, Norfolk and ...

Early life

McKee's father was a medical practitioner in Ireland in the late 19th century. He then migrated to England around 1900. McKee was born in Ilford,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, in 1906, attending

Chigwell School Chigwell School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition located in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It consists of a pre-prep (ages 4–7), Junior School (ages 7–11), Sen ...

and then studying medicine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College. He received his

Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons 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 ...

in 1934. He worked at the Sheffield Royal Hospital before being appointed consultant in orthopaedics at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital (N&N) in 1939.

Hip replacement work

McKee moved to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in 1939. He worked in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

at the

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital The Norfolk and Norwich Hospital stood on a site in St Stephen's Road, Norwich, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1771, it closed in 2003 after its services had been transferred to the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Many of the building ...

(N&N), which he joined in 1939 as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon, going on to pioneer primary hip replacements in the 1950s. According to Hugh Phillips, the President of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...

2004–2005, "Ken McKee started experimenting with model hip joints in 1938, working with dentists and an engineering firm in Norwich to create the original brass mock-ups. He carried out his first primary hip replacement on a patient in 1951, before Sir

John Charnley Sir John Charnley, (29 August 1911 – 5 August 1982) was an English orthopaedic surgeon. He pioneered the hip replacement operation, which is now one of the most common operations both in the UK and elsewhere in the world, and created the ...

perfected his own version." He retired to

Tacolneston Tacolneston () is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk District of Norfolk with a population of around 700, measured at the 2011 Census as a population of 825. Its name occurs in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Tacoluestuna'' and is theori ...

in the 1970s.

Commemorations

In 1972 in recognition of his services to orthopaedic surgery he was appointed 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 ...

and three years later received an Honorary Doctorate of Science of

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. He was awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chamber ...

in 1986. In addition to a bronze bust cast by his daughter-in-law, the Belgian sculptor Myriam De Kepper, McKee's work at the hospital is remembered with a residence block, McKee House, at the

and a road, Kenneth McKee Plain, built on the former N&N site.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Kenneth 1906 births 1991 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons Medical doctors from Norwich People from Ilford British orthopaedic surgeons 20th-century English medical doctors English people of Northern Ireland descent People from South Norfolk (district) 20th-century surgeons