Drmauricegarretts

THE NOTED consultant dermatologist Maurice Garretts once treated Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s right hand man, in Spandau prison. It happened when he served with the British Army of the Rhine in Germany as a dermatologist. Another time he was called to see the Allied prisoner, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring, who had commanded the German Air Force in the Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarrosa, and other campaigns. “The Jews have always made the best doctors” the Field Marshal told him.

Maurice Garretts became a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and cared for all patients, despite religion or politics. He studied medicine at University College, London, qualifying in 1950. Before attaining his doctorate Garretts was houseman to another dermatologist and when Winston Churchill needed a consultation, he accompanied his teacher on the visit to Chartwell Manor.

While working at University College Hospital, he met his future wife Sheila,who was then working as a medical secretary, marrying her in 1952. He was the last recipient of the Radcliffe Crocker Scholarship, named after Henry Radcliffe Crocker, who had developed a career in dermatology at University College Hospital in the late 19th century. Crocker had seen Joseph Merrick, (incorrectly known as John Merrick the famous Elephant Man), at a freak show and was the first person to propose a diagnosis.

Having reached the rank of senior registrar at University College Hospital, Garretts applied for the position of assistant to the senior consultant at Cambridge. He was told by Arthur Rook, consultant dermatologist at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital, that while he was perfectly suitable for the position, if he valued his Judaism he should not take up the post as there was no established Jewish community in Cambridge; the students were a passing traffic.

So Garretts moved to Manchester, as consultant dermatologist at the United Manchester Hospitals, the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the Withington Hospital and the Wythenshawe Hospital. He treated professional footballers both from Manchester City and Manchester United. At Chester Zoo, he once removed a wart from an elephant’s hide and helped a a polar bear recover its luxurious coat of fur after curing its iodine deficiency. He exhibited tenderness, compassion, total professional integrity and humility.

He is survived by Sheila, their children Angela and James and grandchildren Andrew and Jonathan.