Dr Christopher Silver (1920-2012)

Dr Christopher Silver, FRCP, geriatrician, was born April 21, 1920. He died on 12 November, 2012, aged 92.

A pioneering geriatrician, Christopher Silver transformed the provision of healthcare for the elderly, becoming the first consultant in geriatric medicine in the East End of London. Through his work, a more modern approach to the treatment and care of elderly patients was introduced and, noticing the link between physical and psychiatric disease in older people, a new ward was set up. His book about Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s innovative hospital for the Crimean War wounded in Renkioi remains an authority on the subject. 

First published in The Times newspaper, January 2013