22 December 2011

It is with respectful sadness that we reflect on the passing of Bud Abbott, whose death in mid-December brings to an end an era of health informatics that started operationally in the mid-1960s.

Bud joined the hospital service in February 1947, taking posts at the Charing Cross and Royal Cancer Hospitals. In 1948, he moved to The London Hospital, became involved in the use of machine accounting and explored the use of computing towards the end of the 1950’s.

He was instrumental in the development of hospital computing and played a leading role in both global activities through the International Medical Informatics Association and closer to home with the establishment of the ‘Current Perspectives’ at the Health Computing conference and exhibition in 1984, which became the ‘HC’ event that still runs today.

In 1974 he joined the North East Thames Regional Health Authority as the Regional Management Services Officer (RMSO). The region had virtually no computing services and a bureau was established to give a region-wide service. He retired from this post in 1985.

By the early 1970s Bud was already ‘Mr-NHS Computing’ and led many of the British Computer Society’s health informatics specialist groups delegations to European and world events. He encouraged work (across the country, far away from his Brentwood base) and mobilised peers and us novices to work together through the professional society. He had a knack of facilitating and fixing whilst also being a consummate diplomat.

When we eventually brought a successful IMIA MEDINFO event to the UK in 2001, he was there, playing a vital ‘political’ role in the local organising committee. He continued to guide health informatics even when operationally retired, frequently appearing in Harrogate at HC congresses and always willing to chair sessions, sometimes at very short notice!

Until recently he was still involved in the organisation of HC and continued to share his knowledge through contributing to and editing books and papers. In 2002 he contributed his own experiences of the health services in a case study on hospital information systems.

His rye laugh can still be heard, as he diffused a crisis or calmly talked us down from taking an inappropriate action. His professional legacy will be both the iconic London Hospital System and the position of UK health informatics world-wide. He will be sorely missed. He was an inspiration, a gentle man and a true friend. Our thoughts are with Pam, his wife, and the family.