Dr James Patrick Payne
1922 to 08/03/2015
Place of birth: Dalkeith, Scotland
Nationality: British
CRN: 513634
Education and qualifications
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General education |
He spent his formative years in Leith and self-financed being a student at the University of Edinburgh by working on the east coast railway. While a medical student during the Second World War, he learned to give anaesthetics at Leith Hospital, and had administered over 5000 by the time he qualified. |
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Primary medical qualification(s) |
MB ChB, University of Edinburgh, 1946 |
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Initial Fellowship and type |
FFARCS by Election |
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Year of Fellowship |
1953 |
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Other qualification(s) |
DA (RCP&S), 1951 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
After a brief period in general practice, he joined the Department of Anaesthetics under John Gillies at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 1950. From there he moved to the Department of Anaesthetics, University of Manchester, where he worked in 1953 and 1954. This was followed by his appointment in 1954 as Lecturer at the Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith, London. In 1963 he was appointed BOC Professor of Anaesthetics at the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Consultant Anaesthetist to the London Hospital and St Peter’s Hospital. He remained in this post until his retirement in 1987 – becoming Emeritus Professor of Anaesthesia, University of London.
Professional interests and activities
In 1958 Payne assisted JF Nunn and RP Harbord in forming the Anaesthetic Research Group (which became the Anaesthetic Research Society ten years later). In 1963 he delivered the Hunterian Lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on ‘the use of a dye dilution technique in studies of blood volume and cardiac output during anaesthesia and surgery’. Through his long career, Payne produced over 150 publications. Perhaps the most notable was his 1966 paper with Hill and King on the distribution of alcohol in blood, breath and urine – this led to the introduction of the breathalyser in Britain. Overall, he produced important work on hypoxia, neuro-muscular blocking agents, monitoring, ethics and the history of anaesthesia. He was very active in the Faculty of Anaesthetists and served on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. He delivered the Joseph Clover Lecture of the Faculty of Anaesthetists in 1970 and the Gillies Lecture of the Scottish Society of Anaesthetists in 1983. Having served as Chairman, Manpower Advisory Standing Committee DHSS for 1980-83, he was Vice President of the AAGBI for 1984-86. Awards came his way: an honorary MD from the University of Uppsala in 1984, the Dudley Buxton Prize from the Faculty of Anaesthetists in 1986, Honorary Membership of the AAGBI and the Gold Medal of the College of Anaesthetists both in 1989, and Fellow of the BMA in 1992. In 2009 the Royal College of Anaesthetists began the annual Payne-Stafford-Tan award, in appreciation of Payne and two of his proteges.
Other biographical information
Payne married Alice McCorry and they had one son and three daughters. He was perceived by some to be brusque, but he was an entertaining raconteur. Probably the last venue at which he lectured was the 6th International Symposium on the History of Anaesthesia held in Cambridge in September 2005. Sadly that year he suffered a stroke, which was followed by progressive loss of memory. He died in a nursing home in Oxford in 2015.
Author and sources
Author:
Dr Alistair McKenzie
Sources and comments:
[1] Payne J. Obituary James Patrick Payne. BMJ 2016: 352: i751. [2] Chapter on JP Payne in Harrison MJ. British Academic Anaesthetists 1950-2000 Vol 1. Wellington, NZ, 2011: 77-96. [3] Chapter on Payne-Stafford-Tan award in McKenzie AG. More Notable Names in Anaesthesia. Gloucester: Choir Press, 2021: 173-5. The photograph is courtesy of the History of Anaesthesia Society.