AMA Victoria - Vicdoc August/September 2019

Obituary Dr Thomas H. Hurley 40 | Vicdoc August / September 2019 His career trajectory emulated that of the extended Hurley family. His father, Victor, was a surgeon who had been President of the Victorian BMA (the forerunner to AMA Victoria) and had served at the RMH for 50 years (including as hospital President). Other members of the extended family were physicians, pathologists, anaesthetists and GPs. Several medical and non- medical members of the family went on to have professorial appointments. Dr Hurley had a long association with the RMH, where he trained as a medical student before undertaking his residency years. His subsequent 40- plus year association with the RMH was interrupted only by periods of: • service in the Australian Navy Reserve (1943) • service in the British Commonwealth Occupying Forces (BCOF) in Japan (1949) • time at Hammersmith Hospital, London (1953) and Cleveland Hospital (Western Reserve University) Ohio (1953-1954). At the RMH he served as outpatient physician, inpatient physician, head of unit, Chairman Division of Medicine, Vice Chair of Senior Medical Staff and eventually President of the RMH Board of Management. Much of the first two decades at the RMH were as honorary appointments. Dr Hurley had two great achievements at the RMH. Firstly, together with Dr John Sullivan and Dr Richard Bell, he established a specialist haematology – oncology unit to enable the delivery of chemotherapy regimens that had become available in the late 1960s. Secondly, he met his wife of 70- plus years, Yvonne, in the hospital residents’ quarters. Yvonne was one month off the boat from England after WW2. Within a matter of weeks after they met, he proposed to her (reputedly on the hospital fire escape). Yvonne asked him if he was sure (he was); she accepted, they married, and he then left for 12 months service with the BCOF in Japan. The Japan service was a pre-arranged commitment. Dr Hurley served extensively as either a member, or more often the chair, of numerous committees, boards or councils outside the RMH including: • the research committee for the NHMRC (Chair, 1975–1981) • the executive committee, Anti- Cancer Council of Victoria (Chair, 1980-1986) • the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) (Chair, 1986-1988) • the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute (Board member, 1966-1985). He served for many years as an advisor with various philanthropic organisations including: • The Ian Potter Foundation • The Van Cleef Foundation • The Menzies Foundation to assist with funding recommendations for community projects. There were numerous other committee appointments. He also had a long, established private practice in Parliament Place. In addition, he was widely read. • His medical research interests were in the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, a TB like pulmonary condition. Together with his pathologist brother, Professor John V Hurley, he published several articles on diagnostic aspects of this elusive condition. For 20 years he was a member of The International Committee on Sarcoidosis. • He had non-medical reading interests. He published a description of non-medical writing by three doctors from Victoria (Dr Graeme Robertson, Sir Clive Fitts and Professor Richard Lovell]. [Hurley TH. Doctors writing outside the square. Medical Journal of Australia . 2011 Jan;194(2):87-9.] He was awarded a FAMA (1979) for services to the medical profession and the AMA and an OBE (1980) and AO (1989) for services to medicine. Tribute compiled by Dr Hurley’s son, A/Prof James Hurley FRACP. Dr Thomas H. Hurley AO, OBE, MD, FRACP, FAMA 1925 - 2019 Dr Thomas Henry Hurley died on 10 May, 2019 at the age of 93 years. The fifth child of Victor and Elsie Hurley, he obtained his secondary schooling at Melbourne Grammar, his tertiary education at Melbourne University and his professional training at The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH). Australian-first clinic gives clearer picture of eye conditions It’s the first Ocular Genetics Clinic in Australia providing care for patients who have an inherited eye condition, are at risk of inheriting or passing on an eye condition or have a genetic disease that affects their eyes. The clinic offers diagnostics, genetic testing, advice and treatment and is staffed by ophthalmologists, clinical geneticists, orthoptists and genetic counsellors working as a team – providing a ‘one stop shop’ for Victorian families. Ophthalmologist, Dr Jonathan Ruddle from The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, is excited about the progress already being made at the clinic to provide care for patients with hereditary eye conditions. “This multidisciplinary clinic will empower the patients and their family members to learn, achieve better diagnosis, gauge progression rates, and in the not too distant future offer world beating treatments,” Dr Ruddle said. “The clinic model that has been developed involves both pre and post clinic discussions to ensure that the most comprehensive, accurate and appropriate information is obtained.” The Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Director of Genomic Medicine, Professor Ingrid Winship, said the partnership between the two health services is a critical factor in the success of the clinic. “This service is a close collaboration with the Eye and Ear and The Royal Melbourne Hospital and a great example of a collaborative partnership approach by health services,” Prof Winship said. “The key for the two organisations is to address specific medical needs of patients who have genetic eye disease and to protect their vision and help plan for their future.” More than 50 patients have already accessed the clinic, including Linda Nancarrow, who has the genetic eye disease Autosomal Dominant Cone Dystrophy and was one of the first patients to be seen at the new service. “My condition makes day-to-day activities, such as getting around, difficult. I feel frustrated, and isolated sometimes, and the decision to have children, knowing they could inherit the condition, was incredibly difficult,” Ms Nancarrow said. “In my mind, the stand-out feature of the clinic is having a genetic counsellor working alongside a specialist ophthalmologist. This ensures that families not only obtain a detailed and accurate understanding of the implications of genetic test results, but also receive the essential emotional support and guidance necessary at such a difficult time.” “It is my wish that one day I will be able to read an article explaining that researchers have the ability to eliminate the trait that causes genetic eye disease,” Ms Nancarrow added. The clinic will run fortnightly at The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital. Visit www.eyeandear.org.au for more information and referral guidelines. A new clinic to help treat patients with genetic eye conditions has opened at The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, as a partnership between the Eye and Ear and The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Ocular Genetics patient Linda Nancarrow (right) opens the new clinic with Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, supported by the Eye and Ear’s Director Ambulatory Services Tracy Siggins and ophthalmologist Dr Jonathan Ruddle. August / September 2019 Vicdoc | 41