David Haslam (editor) - Bariatric Surgery in Clinical Practice

Taking a practical approach to clinical medicine, this series of smaller reference books is designed for the trainee physician, primary care physician, nurse practitioner and other general medical professionals to understand each topic covered. The coverage is comprehensive but concise and is designed to act as a primary reference tool for subjects across the field of medicine.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13483

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My good friend and co-editor of this book sadly passed away before it reached publication, and it should be correct that a moment is taken to recognise the wealth of input he has had into the field of obesity and weight management during what was an illustrious career.

Like me, David was fundamentally a general practitioner and worked in primary care as a Partner at his NHS Practice in Hertfordshire for 30 years until retiring a couple of years ago. However, we shared the same frustrations that our day jobs would cause us to chase our tails and see patients with the consequences of obesity, rather than treating the cause itself. His dedicated personal development saw him soon become a GP with specialist interest in obesity and cardiometabolic disease, and he ultimately worked as a Bariatric Physician in Obesity Management at Luton & Dunstable Hospital.

David began his interest in obesity medicine before we even met and soon became an established expert in the field. I first met him when he was in the respected role of a Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum (NOF), an organisation for which he would subsequently become a Chairman. He was always very keen to promote the recognition of obesity as a serious medical problem and help to provide education and training on obesity management for the healthcare profession. During his time with the NOF, he would help to co-author or contribute to many clinical guidelines on the management of obesity or commonly associated co-morbidities such as type 2 diabetes.

It was Davids passion to help set up a network of like-minded specialists to provide management support and an information resource, and he was integral in developing the NOF regional obesity groups (inviting me to be a Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber region), as well as subsequently becoming a founding board member of the Experts for Severe and Complex Obesity (ESCO) networking group. His encouragement of academic excellence led him to be one of the original academic advisory board members for the College of Contemporary Health.

However, David was also a keen and shrewd lobbyist and would welcome every chance to attend parliamentary meetings in Whitehall with the aim of highlighting the health inequalities of obesity and raising the profile of obesity via political, medical and lay media channels. His high profile led him to sit upon the Department of Health Obesity Strategy Group.

His other achievements were numerous, including: a Visiting Professor at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and Chester University; and an obesity specialist at 76 Harley Street, London; as well as working for charity organisations such as a Director of PCOS UK (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome UK); a member of the Counterweight Board; and a Visiting Lecturer at Beds & Herts Postgraduate Medical School. He was a prolific author and has widely published in journals and papers, and would speak internationally on obesity and related diseases, and his books included the often cited Fat, Gluttony and Sloth; Obesity in Literature, Art and Medicine and The Obesity Epidemic and its Management both published in 2010.

On a more personal level, David was more than just a friend and became more like a mentor. I know that I would not be as involved in the field of weight management as much today had it not been for his support and guidance over the years. Furthermore, our many discussions over what we would have in the ideal obesity MDT (multidisciplinary team) will have influenced my development of the Rotherham Institute for Obesity (RIO) whether consciously or subconsciously, and I was honoured when David agreed to perform the official opening ceremony in November 2009, an event recorded forever with his name on the shiny brass plaquehe will be sadly missed.

RIP

11.05.62 to 23.08.21

Davids dedication to advancing better recognition and treatment for obesity meant our paths were destined to cross. While I played my part in persuading the World Health Organization, the European Union and medical and health professional organisations around the world that the obesity pandemic (long before Covid-19 came to haunt us) was a real global threat, David surrendered much of his precious spare time to beat the obesity drum in the UK.

For many years, he took on the leading role in the National Obesity Forum as its clinical director and then chair, and didnt shy away from the controversies that sometimes ensued in those honorary roles. His commitment was to keep the campaign momentum whatever vicissitudes he encountered.

We became good friends as well as colleagues, finding we shared a degree of healthy cynicism whilst also sharing a good laugh. Whenever we met, David was always able, with his wry sense of humour and undeterred optimism, to look on the bright side even when situations in the world of public health and obesity prevention policy seemed immeasurably worse. Occasionally we travelled together to critical meetings in Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Brussels, where I greatly valued his support. David was always a wonderfully entertaining travelling companion with many diverse interests beyond public health.