Roger Blamey, who has died aged 79, was from 1980 to 2000 professor of surgical science at Nottingham University, based at Nottingham City hospital. His pioneering renal work led to the development of a very successful transplant unit in Nottingham, which has treated more than 1,700 patients. He also established Nottingham's international reputation in the field of breast cancer.
It is difficult to overestimate the impact Roger's work has had on the lives of women with breast cancer. In the 70s, at a time when treatment was largely standardised and provided by general surgeons, he conceived an ambition to offer patients treatment appropriate to their specific types of cancer. He established in Nottingham one of the first breast screening programmes, and this contributed to the eventual development of the UK screening programme. Roger recognised the importance of specialisation, and the power of the multidisciplinary team in providing the best treatment.
The guidelines he helped produce for the management of breast cancer stimulated the development of multidisciplinary treatment and the emergence of the specialist breast surgeon. He was a leading force in the creation in 2010 of the Association of Breast Surgery, which developed out of the breast group of the British Association of Surgical Oncology, of which he was a founder member. The association is now the most rapidly growing sub-speciality in the UK, with more than 1,200 members.
Work by Roger's colleague Christopher Elston, on pathological investigation of tumours, linked with Roger's own careful follow-up of patients, resulted in the development in 1982 of the Nottingham prognostic index, which is now used across the world to select treatment for women according to their individual prognoses.
He was a leading force in the 2003 opening at the city hospital of the Nottingham Breast Institute, which now provides facilities for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of 35,000 breast cancer patients annually. All his work was underpinned by research programmes, which provided invaluable data and experience for young surgeons. The education centre at the Nottingham Breast Institute is appropriately named after him.
The son of John and Cara Blamey, Roger was born in Southgate, north London; he was educated at Highgate school, and Downing College, Cambridge, where he played rugby and rowed for the college. He completed his medical training at the Middlesex hospital, London, and graduated MB BChir from Cambridge in 1961, becoming a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England four years later. After a number of surgical appointments, he moved to Pat Forrest's department in Cardiff, where his work on the immunological aspects of tumour growth resulted in the award of the MD degree from Cambridge in 1969. He subsequently worked in Roy Calne's department in Cambridge, gaining invaluable experience in renal transplantation.
In 1970, he began a lifelong association with Australian surgery, as a senior lecturer at St Vincent's hospital, Melbourne. He said he enjoyed the Australian beaches but missed 14th-century cathedrals. He returned to Cambridge in 1972 and a year later was appointed a senior lecturer in the department of surgery at Nottingham, with responsibility for the department's surgical beds at the city hospital.
The time was ripe for change: the new Nottingham medical school was just three years old and specialist services had yet to be developed. Renal dialysis and renal transplantation were not readily available and young patients were dying who could have been saved. With the support of a local physician, Martin Knapp, Roger submitted a proposal to the regional health authority, which was rejected on the grounds that the region already had a transplant centre.
At this point he demonstrated traits that would characterise the rest of his career: a dislike of committees, and a conviction that if you believe in something, you try your best to achieve it. With the support of local emergency departments, he obtained suitable donor kidneys and performed the first transplant in February 1974. By the end of the year, 10 of the first 12 transplants that had been carried out were still functioning – a rate greater than at the region's designated centre. The first dedicated dialysis unit was established, in a small converted ward with three beds, after a successful local appeal, which raised over £40,000.
Official recognition of the Nottingham unit followed, and grants were obtained allowing a number of important research programmes to be established, to investigate factors involved in rejection. Over the next 10 to 15 years, surgeons with an interest in transplantation were appointed and this gave Roger an opportunity to turn his attention to breast disease.
His energy, vitality and drive were inspiring. He loved his work, but would occasionally be seen watching cricket at Trent Bridge, and those of us who had the pleasure to play golf with him knew we needed to be on the first tee before 7am and to be prepared almost to run round the course with him. His other interests included classical music, walking in the Peak and Lake Districts, and food and wine, which he particularly enjoyed while holidaying in France.
He is survived by his wife, Norma (nee Kelly), whom he married in 1959, a son, Edmund, two daughters, Sarah and Eleanor, and six granddaughters.
• Roger Wallas Blamey, surgeon, born 16 March 1935; died 1 September 2014
