John Grimley Evans

Professor Sir John Grimley Evans broke ground in medicine for the elderly in the later 20th century. His greatest achievement was driving the integration of older adults into acute general hospital care. At Newcastle upon Tyne from 1971 and Oxford from 1985, he helped end the routine dispatching of older patients to substandard care at separate facilities.

Combining an enthusiasm for epidemiology and clinical medicine, he also broached key research fields, overseeing large community based population studies on strokes and hip fractures.

Later in his career he further contributed to the profession by chairing national and international committees and serving as vice president of the Royal College of Physicians.

In 1988-95 he edited the British Geriatric Society’s Age and Ageing. Producing the journal from his front room, he established it as a respected academic publication in a two person team with his wife, Corinne.

He won an open scholarship in natural sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge, and completed his medical degree at Oxford. A series of happy accidents then proved the ideal …