Lord Amulree was an outstanding advocate of geriatric medicine in the United Kingdom. His interest in the subject started while he was working for the Ministry of Health and blossomed with his clinical appointment to the new geriatric unit at St Pancras Hospital in London. Here he established a thriving department, expounded his general and specific philosophies on the subject in numerous publications, and trained many junior members of staff who, in their turn, became advocates of the speciality. He used his position in the House of Lords to promote the cause of older persons. He is best remembered for his maxim of Adding Life to Years not Years to Life.
References
1.
Exton-SmithAN. Obituary: Lord Amulree. British Medical Journal1984;288:156; Godber Sir George. Obituary: Lord Amulree. Lancet1984;i:58; GeorgeGodberSir. Amulree, Lord (Basil William Sholto Mackenzie). Munk's Roll1989:111, 12–13; MackenzieArie T., Basil William Sholto, Second Baron Amulree (1900–1983). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography2004;35:562–3. Archive material held by the British Geriatrics Society
2.
Ibid.: Godber Munk's Roll, p. 13
3.
Ministry bans Lord Amulree. The Daily Telegraph, 10 February 1950
4.
MackenzieSholtoHonThe. Reports on Public Health and Medical Subjects: Cancer: An Inquiry into the Extent to Which Patients Receive Treatment. Report 89. London: HMSO, 1939. He spoke on the subject of cancer even after he had left the Ministry. Lord Amulree. Cancer Education in Great Britain. Acta Unio Internationalis Contra Cancrum1951;7(special number 2):181–2
5.
GodberGeorgeSirGeriatrics as a Speciality.London: The British Library: National Sound Archive, 1991. In a letter to The Times of 9 December 1949, Amulree acknowledged he was ‘no more than her willing and humble disciple’. Treatment of Aged Sick. The Times, 9 December 1949
6.
AmulreeLordSturdeeEL. Care of the chronic sick and of the aged. British Medical Journal1946;1:617–18
7.
HumphryRollestonSirSome Medical Aspects of Old Age: Being the Linacre Lecture 1922.London: MacMillan, 1922; HowellTH. Old Age: Some Practical Points in Geriatrics.London: HK Lewis, 1944; WarrenMW. Care of Chronic Sick. British Medical Journal1943;2:822–3; BanksAL. The care of the infirm and the long stay patient. Ministry of Health Monthly Bulletin1945;4:112–8
8.
In 1946, after the Presentation to the end of that year, articles by Amulree and Warren, and editorials appeared in The British Medical Journal and The Lancet. In 1947 Amulree, Drs Brooke, Cosin, Howell and Sturdee published articles; the BMA Committee made its first report and the Annual Report of the Ministry of Health mentioned the work of Amulree and Sturdee. In 1948 Amulree, Brooke, Cosin, Howell, Sturdee and Warren published articles, and editorials were published in The Lancet. Dr Sheldon published his book on The Social Medicine of Old Age, and the first Annual Report of the NCCOP appeared. In 1949 Drs Andrews, Boucher, Brooke, Exton-Smith, Howell, Lowe, McEwan, Warren and Wilson published articles and letters, and many editorials appeared in The Lancet and The British Medical Journal, and Professor Thomson gave the Lumleian lecture at the Royal College of Physicians
9.
AmulreeLord. Care of the elderly. Lancet1946;ii:801–2
10.
Ibid.: P. 802
11.
Amulree (op. cit. ref. 9): P. 801
12.
Editorial.The employment of elderly people. Lancet1949;ii:469–70. This was written by Amulree
13.
Editorial.No room at the hospital. Lancet1948;ii:977
14.
AmulreeLord. No room at the hospital. Lancet1948;ii:1026
15.
AmulreeLord. The medical aspects of the care of the aged. The Chiropodist1951;6:227–32
16.
Editorial. New hope for the old. Lancet1949;i:447
17.
The phrase ‘Adding Life to Years’ has long been associated with Amulree. AmulreeLord. Adding Life to Years.London: The National Council of Social Service (Incorporated), 1951; Lord Amulree. Exton-Smith AN, Crockett GS. Proper use of the hospital in the treatment of the aged sick. Lancet1951;i:123–6
18.
AmulreeLord. Adding life to years. Ibid.: P. 39
19.
AmulreeLord. The employment of elderly workers. Practitioner1950;165:111–14; AmulreeLord. The employment of elderly workers. Occupational Therapy1951;30:121–2; AmulreeLord. The health problems of old workers. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation1955;13:575–85
20.
AmulreeLord. Geriatrics. Medicine Illustrated1953;7:315–17. Dr Richard Asher wrote a forthright article highlighting the many complications that could result from bed rest. AsherRAJ. The dangers of going to bed. British Medical Journal1947;2:967–87
21.
AmulreeLord. James Mackenzie and the future of medicine. Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners1969;17:3–11
22.
AmulreeLord (op. cit. ref. 17)
23.
AmulreeLord. Sex and the elderly. Practitioner1954;172:431–435
24.
AmulreeLord. The care of old people at home. Practitioner1956;177:33–7
25.
AmulreeLordExton-SmithANHallDA. Institute of gerontology. Lancet1970;i:241
26.
AmulreeLord (op. cit. ref. 17): P. 38
27.
AmulreeLord. Discussion on the problems of old age. Proceedings of The Royal Society of Medicine1950;43:933–5
28.
AmulreeLordArnoldPPolakA.Length of stay in hospital of the aged sick. Lancet1952;ii:191
29.
AmulreeLord (op. cit. ref. 27): P. 934
30.
AmulreeLord. Right to die. Lancet1970;ii:1037
31.
Exton-SmithANCrockettGS. The chronic sick under new management. Lancet1949;i:1016–18
AmulreeLord. Hospitals and domiciliary services. Public Health1958;72:203–9; AmulreeLord. A comprehensive domiciliary meals service. British Medical Journal1958;14:1408–10
35.
RangM.Incidence of complications among elderly hospital patients. Lancet1957;i:401–2
36.
RosinAJBoydRV. Complications of illness in geriatric patients in hospitals. Journal of Chronic Diseases1966;19:307–13
37.
AmulreeLordArnoldPPolakA, (op. cit. ref. 28)
38.
AmulreeLord. Discussion on the role of physical medicine in geriatric practice. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine1953;46:339–42
39.
AmulreeLord. Modern hospital treatment and the pensioner. Lancet1955;ii:571–5
40.
AmulreeLord. Twenty five years of geriatrics. British Journal of Clinical Practice1971;25:97–104
41.
Ibid.: P. 98
42.
AmulreeLord. Geriatric services. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine1976;69:536–7
43.
Annotation.Carers for the old. Lancet1948;1:564. The Aged and the Nation was published by the Liberal Publication Department, 5, Gayfere Street, London, SW1 in 1948
44.
AmulreeLord. Plight of old people. Lancet1947;1:652–3. (Nuffield Foundation. Old People.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947)
45.
AmulreeLord. House of Lords. The Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)1948;CLIV: Col 1125
46.
Anonymous.Parliament: Community care. Lancet1965;ii:138
47.
AmulreeLord. Sir John Pringle and the Frankfurt convention. Lancet1943;ii:234
48.
AmulreeLord. Monastic infirmaries. In: PoynterFNL, ed. The Evolution of Hospitals in Britain.London: Pitman Medical, 1964: Pp. 11–26 (op. cit. ref. 21)
49.
AmulreeLord. Dr Archibald Cameron. Medical History1971;15:230–40, on p. 230; Gibson M. Dr Archibald Cameron (1707–1753). Journal of Medical Biography2005;13:117–8
50.
AmulreeLord. Welfare of the elderly. Modern Geriatrics1971;1:330–5
51.
AmulreeLord. Hygienic conditions in ancient Rome and modern London. Medical History1973;17:244–55
52.
AmulreeLord. Pergamum. History of Medicine1975;6:15–22
53.
KennethRobinson. Geriatrics as a Speciality.London: The British Library, National Sound Archive, 1991
