William H Bain

Cardiac surgeon. Born: November 20, 1927; Died: September 14, 2014. Infirmary Ward 49 where Professor Bain became senior lecturer/consultant. This satellite unit continued to perform cardiac surgery until the constraints of bed space led to the formation of a larger unit based in Ward 30 at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in 1975. This was imposed by the increasing number of patients requiring coronary artery surgery.

For a brief period, Professor Bain also operated at Mearnskirk Hospital cardiac unit until an open heart programme was begun across the city at the Western Infirmary. He was offered the titular chair of cardiac surgery there and forged ahead with a busy clinical workload.

As a teacher, Bill Bain was superb. He frequently began his postgraduate lectures with an arresting clinical fact and led the audience through logical arguments to a convincing conclusion. At the bedside, his kindly matter-of-fact manner reassured patients and although he did not suffer fools gladly, he tempered blunt remarks – to patients or staff – by positive recommendations.

Naturally, one of his main interests was the design and performance of artificial heart valves. He developed a system for pressure testing artificial valves in the laboratory which mimicked their function in the human heart. He was often approached by the commercial manufacturers of new valves to give an independent opinion on the clinical and laboratory performance of the product.

From his experience as a Fullbright scholar in the USA, he recognised the importance of data recording and the computerised collection of clinical records. He encouraged the application of computers for the continuous recording of clinical data, especially in intensive care. He was keen to bridge the gap between non-medical (but computer literate st aff) and clinical care personnel.

Being the senior member of his unit, he was in a position to delegate clinical duties and he could accurately match ability with the expected performance although he never shirked his own responsibility and was glad to give the benefit of his wide experience in adult cardiac surgery. His reputation as a leader was enhanced when he was chosen as president of the Cardiothoracic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1988.

In his leisure time – of which he had little – he had many interests. On annual holidays, he sailed a small yacht on the Cromarty Firth. His forbears belonged to that area and as a child, he had been a wartime evacuee there following the Clydebank blitz in 1941. When he retired in 1991, he sailed his own 30ft yacht on the Firth of Clyde. He was an expert at crosswords with a penchant for lateral thinking. This ability assisted him when writing research articles or preparing lectures which he could do with ease.

At a time when cardiac surgery was making rapidly advancing strides in alleviating heart diseases, Bill Bain kept pace with its advances. He was acutely analytical but did not stifle new ideas. All who learned their craft under his guidance can be grateful to him for his dedication to cardiac surgery.

He is survived by his wife Helen, his children Susan, Douglas and Donald, who is a vascular surgeon, and ten grandchildren.