Dr Donald Manton

Donald John Manton former Consultant Radiologist, Frimley Park Hospital (b. 1926, q. London, St. Mary's Hospital 1952, MB, DMRD, FRCR) 

Donald John Manton died suddenly from a cerebral haemorrhage on 8th December 1999, having had a fairly major stroke a year previously. After house jobs he trained in radiology at Chertsey, the Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals. After three years as a consultant in Birmingham, he moved in 1967 to Farnham where he remained until his retirement in 1991.

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23 February 1926 to 08 December 1999

Soon after his move to Farnham he became interested in the planning of new x-ray rooms, and the 'Best Buy' hospital at Frimley Park which was opened in 1974. This interest continued through much of his working life. After first helping to revise the radiology section of the Hospital and Equipment Notes for the Ministry of Health, followed by a series of articles which were well received, this work culminated in the book 'Building and Extending a Radiology Department' (with Eric Roebuck and Geoff Fordham - who were also co-authors of the notes and papers), which was published by the Royal Society of Medicine in 1988.

He expended a great deal of energy in the BMA, becoming the local Divisional Chairman, a member of the Central Consultants' Committee (then the CCHMS), and the Radiology Group Committee, where he was of great help and encouragement to other members. He was awarded the Fellowship of the BMA in 1989. In committee work he was greatly admired for his common-sense and keenness without rancour.

Outside medicine he was a member of several Masonic Lodges, and had a lifelong interest in things mechanical, especially trains; this was greatly stimulated by his national service in the Royal Navy (before entering medical school) when he spent some time at Herriott Watt College in Edinburgh studying aircraft engineering.

He leaves a wife, Pat (a former Senior Radiographer), a son and daughter.

Memoir author: Fred W Wright