The Art of Medicine Seminars - Making a Difference - Meaningful Movement

Tea and Coffee available before the seminar from 19.00

Join us to explore the health and wellbeing benefits of dance and movement with the amazing York Dance Space and inspiring Allison Singer, Arts Psychotherapist and Dance Anthropologist.

Eventbrite Link to Book

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1984549172999?aff=oddtdtcreator

More information about our seminar facilitators:

York Dance Space was created in 2016 by Dance Artists Hannah and Drew Wintie-Hawkins. After graduating from London Contemporary Dance School they had extensive performing careers before moving back to Hannah's home town, York to create their own independent dance organisation. They are dedicated to promoting the arts and fostering creativity in the community. They mission is to provide accessible cultural experiences that enrich and inspire. They aim to create a kind and inclusive space to dance. 

Take a look at their website to see how they are using dance in schools and our community.

Dr Allison Singer is a Senior Humanistic and Integrative Arts Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor with over 25 years clinical experience. She is also a Dance Anthropologist and Ethnomusicologist; and has a background in Dance Movement Psychotherapy, Dramatherapy, and Yoga teaching. Allison's clinical experience includes work with people with complex trauma; depression and anxiety; and with refugee and internally displaced people in a post-conflict zone (De Montfort University, PhD 2007); people with dementia and their carers; and working with life transitions. She focuses mainly on work with women. Allison is the founder and director of The Centre for Movement and Creative Arts in Psychotherapy (MAPTHY); co-founder of the North East Arts Therapies group (NEAT); and a former Chair of the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy. She has also led and been a Senior Lecturer and Consultant on MA Professional Arts Therapies and Arts in Health professional training programmes in the UK.

Read more about MAPTHY on their website.

The AGM will be held in person at 23 Stonegate and also with the option to join in by Zoom.    

The AGM is to be held on Friday 15th May 2026 at 7.30pm.  Formal notice of the meeting and reports can be found on your mailing. 

Professor Paul Blenkiron will give his valedictory address 'Happiness: What It Is and How To Get More Of It'

A copy of Paul’s presentation: Happiness, What It Is and How To Get More Of It

Roy Want PhD: Award-Winning Computer Scientist, Google, California

Smart Hospitals Know Where Stuff Is

In a critical healthcare environment, seconds save lives. Yet, hospitals often struggle with a surprisingly basic question: Where exactly are our staff, our patients, and our life-saving equipment? While GPS revolutionized outdoor navigation, the indoor environment has remained a blind spot. Until now…

In this cutting edge talk from one of the world’s great innovators, Roy takes us on a personal journey from Cambridge University to Silicon Valley. He describes his progression from senior research engineer at Olivetti, Intel, and Xerox PARC, to Principal Scientist for the Android group at Google.

Focussing on health settings, Roy reveals how we are overcoming the challenges of indoor positioning. He explains his breakthrough work - using Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology plus Next-Gen WiFi - and how they can be combined with pinpoint precision to create a truly "smart" hospital.

Dr Want holds over 100 patents in mobile computing (Wikipedia). He received the ACM SIGMOBILE Outstanding Contributions Award in 2019, and continues to set global standards for the future of Wi-Fi.  

Click here to see Roy’s presentation. A copy of the meeting recording can be found below.

YMS. Description of talk by Dr Roy Want on 24.4.26 -  Smart Hospitals Know Where Stuff Is

by Dr Bob Adams

This enthusiastic and expert presentation by Dr Roy Want (Post Grad Cambridge 1988) kept our attention and I for one learnt a lot. Roy, a longstanding friend of our current president, flew all the way from Silicon Valley in California with his wife, just to talk to us in Stonegate. Roy is an expert in developing computer systems, the things that dominate our lives now, and it was valuable to get an insight into what goes on beyond the scenes.

Roy currently works for Google, not an alien invader from Bladerunner, but the multibillion-dollar company that provides the majority of mobile phone systems to the world. He was involved in the creation of the ‘blue dot’ that we see on our phone maps. Roy concentrated his talk on new developments that will be hitting our ‘cell phones’ soon, the ability to find our way inside complex buildings that include hospitals. He explained to us how difficult it is to develop indoor positioning systems (to locate people and hospital equipment eg Zimmer frames) when satellite navigation (GPS) is not available. He outlined how different systems are developed and I understood most of it, apart from the equations. The latter reminded me that to get into medical school it was once necessary to get an ‘A’ level in maths or physics.

We learned about ‘Ping-Pong Protocols’, ‘Radio Time of Flight’ and ‘Time Advance Attacks’. Even calculus was mentioned, first described by Newton and Gauss over 200 years ago to help find the position of planets in space. We were pleased to hear that standards are shared and even Android and Apple speak to each other occasionally. But with new inventions there will always be the bad guys who try to circumvent them. Roy showed us a UK video of thieves trying to steal an expensive car by intercepting remote control systems and then outlined ways of counteracting this. It is a cat and mouse game.

It was especially valuable to learn what life was like in another world, that of Silicon Valley. Whether we like it or not, our life will further be changed by these new developments, and we need to stay ahead of the game. Indoor positioning systems will enable others to track where we are, so it may be necessary to turn off our phones occasionally, especially when we want to escape from a future nursing home! A brave new world indeed. Many thanks to Dr Roy Want for his valuable insights.

YMS Social Event - Spring Walk and Sunday lunch

Kirkham Priory and Derwent Valley - Sunday 12 April 2026

We enjoyed a 5 mile walk through the Derwent Valley, starting at Kirkham Priory, YO60 7JS
The weather was mainly sunny and dry and the company great.

Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious Roast Sunday lunch at The Stone Trough Inn.

Thanks to all who joined us.

'This House Supports Assisted Dying'

Speakers:
Mr Oscar Dunn - Year 3 Medical Student, Hull York Medical School
Dr Greg Richardson - Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, York
Mr James Challinor - Year 3 Medical Student, Hull York Medical School
Dr Jeff Clarke  - Consultant Psychiatrist for Older Adults, Harrogate

 The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is currently undergoing scrutiny in the House of Lords. If it becomes law, it will allow people in England and Wales with less than six months to live to seek a physician-assisted death.

But is it ever right that doctors should actively participate in ending life? How can this align with our ancient Hippocratic principle to ‘do no harm’?

Or is the relief of suffering and distress more important than treatment to preserve life? Does assisted dying simply offer modern compassionate medicine, and place patients at the centre of decisions about their own life?

We had a stimulating evening debating the ethics and reality of assisted dying - a topic of continuing importance to everyone involved in healthcare.

Notes from the evening are given below.

Please note that the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the speakers or of York Medical Society and do not endorse any particular position.

Vote of thanks by Dr John Reid

The President introduced the debaters and explained the process.

Oscar Dunn (3rd year Medical Student HYMS) and Dr Greg Richardson (Retired Child Psychiatrist) would speak for the motion.

James Challinor (3rd year Medical Student HYMS) and Dr Jeff Clarke (Consultant Psychiatrist for the Elderly) would speak against the motion.

There was a blind vote of hands before the debate, with 3 choices: those in support of the motion, those who were against the motion, and those who were undecided. The results were not announced at this stage.

Oscar Dunn (for): He undertook a quick straw poll of the audience asking if the audience preferred to know how they would die or when they would die. Most opted to know when they would die, but he stated that studies suggest most people prefer to know how they would die.

He stated that thinking of death has been shown to increased racism, homophobia.

He related about this personal experience of his grandfather who died of MND in June 2022. He did not know if he was scared, and feels he may have wished an option on how he died.

James Challinor (against): He talked about the Voluntary Euthanasia Society in 1936. Assisted dying is actually assisted suicide; it is an active intervention to cause death.

He questioned what the right response to suffering is. He does not want or advocate for suffering.

In 1961 suicide was no longer an offence but assisted suicide remained an offence. Once there is assisted suicide, then coercion is possible, and can affect family friends and the Doctor.

He talked about the ‘Do no harm’ undertaking of Doctors, but medicines to cause death are poisons.

Under the bill, you have to have a prognosis of 6 months. This is very hard to predict.

He stated that assisted suicide does not give someone an easy death necessarily.

The RCPsych does not support assisted suicide.  The UK has high quality palliative care, which leads to less requests for assisted suicide. But palliative care is under resourced.  Assisted suicide risks undermining the value of human life. It would be better to work harder on symptom control.

Questions for the 1st two speakers:

Nick Bosanquet asked about the fact that assisted suicide happens as part of palliative care, when Drs take decision on End of Life Care.

David Chadwick Chaplain YDH: He commented that he came across quite a lot of people who were suicidal. Suicide is seen as evil, he feels it is an illness. Is suicide an evil?

Tim Hughes: Where did autonomy come in all this? He could relate to 6 patients in his career where Assisted suicide would have helped.

 Greg Richardson (for): Death can be planned for and comfortable.

He has been well but has a “terror” of a difficult death.

He feels Autonomy is the top of his list of determinants.

Nobody should be coerced. He advocated Advanced directives and living wills. He commented that wishes need to be discussed with the family. He does not want his family to have their last memory of him is as a gibbering wreck.

But a Doctor should not administer any drugs.

The individual has to consider their family and family is paramount.

 Jeff Clarke (against): He talked about ‘controlling’ death. He does not want to become ill.  He talked about poisons to end life.

Autonomy This is said to be paramount, but gets altered by rules, and constraints and are ever present. ‘I may not want to wear a seat belt on occasion, but it is required’

Dignity has an intrinsic quality. 

Euthanasia is the predominant model of assisted dying.

But where it has been enacted there is remit creep. Where people have to self-administer such as Oregon, there is less creep. Where Drs give injections. The evidence is that rates rise.

Assisted suicide does not reduce the incidence of unregulated suicide.

The evidence shows that Palliative care quality is reduced where there is assisted suicide.

Questions and Comments:
Is there free choice?

Jeff: Who can spot coercion? Why have you not considered assisted suicide?

Greg: I’ve been very lucky and do not want to be a burden.

Stuart Calder: The slippery slope is very real and backed by hard evidence.

Helen: In New Zealand: Patients can choose the method, including intra osseus injection., Families are distraught and there is a fall out from this.

After the questions had been answered, there was a repeat of the anonymous vote. This was reported as showing that the house had changed its views with less undecided and more members of the audience voting against the motion.

The President announced the results.

Before the debate: 14 members voted for, 15 against and 8 were unsure.

After the debate: 9 members voted for, 21 against and 3 still unsure.

Please note that the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the speakers or of York Medical Society and do not endorse any particular position.

Have you ever wanted to see inside the Joseph Rowntree Theatre?

Are you curious about what goes on backstage?

Do you want to see how the sound and lighting works?

All your questions will be answered when tour guide Gary Bateson takes us on a full tour of this grade II listed art deco building. Found on Haxby Road, York, this wonderful community theatre was originally built for the workers at Rowntree factory. It has been entertaining local audiences since 1935, and now operates as a registered charity.

Come and join us on Tuesday 24 March. 
The tour starts at the Theatre at 2.30pm and will finish around 4pm.

Thank you to those who joined us for this tour - we hope you enjoyed it.

As the President's chosen local charity of the year, all proceeds from the ticket sales will go to support the inclusive work of the Theatre and continue to improve its disabled facilities. 

The Art of Medicine Seminars - Making a Difference - Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Everyday objects used in medicine hold the stories of clinicians and patients. They can represent advances in modern medicine, provoke and sustain personal memories while sometimes perpetuating trauma. Objects act as vessels for our identity and beliefs.

Many medical objects were created with reference to the arts and crafts philosophy to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. They often have design elements that are not obvious in the context of medical care. 
How do we choose which objects to preserve as a record of our time?

How does the process of curation ensure an appropriate balance between an object being the guardian of secrets or a resource to reveal the past?

Museums act as a third space where joy can be celebrated and trauma can be recognised, validated and the process of healing commenced. Their collections enable our present and future selves to connect with the past.

We invite you to hear the stories of objects from the archive at York Medical Society and to bring objects that form part of your medical work or professional identity to share and explore their credentials for a place in our imaginary medical museum.

Click here to book

Doctors in training compete for our Postgraduate Founder’s Prize, awarded for research or audit conducted within the Yorkshire and Humber Deanery.

Click here to hear the five varied and exciting talks shortlisted for presentation this year:
 
Dr Alicja Wos: The ‘Pain story’ - a powerful tool to help patients understand chronic pain better and open up to non-pharmacological interventions
Dr Vinson Chan: Interventional Oncology - New research frontiers in Yorkshire
Dr Katherine Pettinger: An Unequal Start? Ethnic and socio-economic inequalities in neonatal outcomes
Dr Hannah Whelan: When tears tell a different story: A rare manifestation of a common infection
Dr Yavuz Cekic: Robotic versus Laparoscopic Redo Anti-Reflux Surgery - Systematic review and meta-analysis of outcomes

Congratulations to Dr Katherine Pettinger who was crowed the winner of this year’s Founder’s Prize.

Dr Bob Adams FRCPsych, M Psychother, 
Psychiatrist, Mental Health Tribunal Doctor and Author

A fascinating journey through 240 years of mental health care at the York Asylum, latterly known as Bootham Park Hospital. From stark 18th century diagnoses of ‘flighty’, ‘melancholic’ and ‘wild’ to modern psychiatric practice, this illustrated talk explores the hospital’s origins, controversies, reforms, evolution of treatments and eventual closure in 2015. Dr Adams’ virtual tour also captures the wider social and medical contexts that influenced these developments. Reflecting on both progress and persistent challenges, he will consider what lessons this history offers for contemporary mental health care.
 
Dr Adams was an NHS Consultant Psychiatrist and clinical director at Bootham Park Hospital for 24 years. Elected President of York Medical Society in 2015, he now works as a Tribunal Doctor for psychiatric hospitals across England. Copies of his popular new book on the subject will be available on the evening. You can also visit our accompanying exhibition on mental health care in York in the Tempest Anderson Room.

Vote of thanks by Dr Phil Duffey.

After the surprising revelation that whistling is Paul Blenkiron’s second greatest ability Bob Adams presented to a full house, highlights from his book Flighty, Melancholic and Wild; 250 Years of Mental Health Care in York.

To begin Bob took the audience on a visual tour through Bootham Park Hospital and its grounds. Using many of his own photographs we were reminded of the beauty of the building and the care that was, ultimately, extended to the interior, including the use of fine Italian tiles at the entrance, the oil paintings that enhanced the main corridor and meeting rooms, some of which now rest with York Medical Society, and the birds that were depicted in stained glass about the central stairwell and elsewhere.

Beyond the contemporary Bob also illustrated the situation of Bootham Park Hospital, The York Asylum as it then was, in 19th century York, the evolution of the site including loss of a cupola and chimneys from the main building, and even use of the grounds for the York Gala of 1901; when sight of a tethered hot air balloon was afterwards considered too stimulating a sight for the patients.

Bob then explored the founding and the founders of the hospital in the 1770s, the raising of £5000 and the commissioning of the architect, John Carr. It was a delight to be reminded of the exercise of philanthropy by the wealthy of York and also the obligation felt by communities towards the mentally ill in their midst. We learnt of the character of the asylum’s first physician, Dr Alexander Hunter, including his advice concerning healthy eating and his cookbook. It was also fascinating to learn about the earliest patients in the asylum, including their being committed to York from Bradford and Lincoln and also to speculate on the nature of their disorders.

These positives were followed by Bob’s explanation of how the asylum soon declined. The reasons included poor finances and staffing levels plus the limitations of medicine at the time. The death of a patient Hannah Mills, a Quaker widow, in 1790 led to founding of The Retreat, York’s second asylum where the ‘moral treatment’ of the insane, including the benefits of exercise, fresh air and activity were promoted. Bob showed how these reforms spread to influence psychiatric practice both nationally and internationally.

Finally, and by necessity, more briefly, Bob reviewed trends in psychiatric care in recent years before turning to the opaque machinations of the NHS that led to the closure of Bootham Park Hospital in 2017. Bob’s low opinion of this was shared by many in the audience and we were agreed that this might be a subject to be returned to, if only for catharsis.

Overall, a very well informed, illustrated and delivered presentation that was highly appreciated.

Thomas Shutt - Asteroseismologist and award-winning teacher, University of York

From the hydrogen born in the Big Bang to the elements synthesised in ancient stars, the chemical foundations of life on Earth were forged long before our planet existed. In this talk, we will explore where those cosmic ingredients came from, and how they came together to form our solar system and make Earth the fertile, enduring home for life that it is.

We will examine what makes our planet so remarkable, and the likelihood of similar conditions arising elsewhere. Looking beyond our solar system, we’ll explore distant exoplanets, the environments they inhabit, and the challenges life may face on worlds very different from our own. Even if life exists elsewhere, what do the vast distances and cosmic timescales mean for our chances of ever encountering intelligent civilisations?

In so doing, we will consider one of our most profound questions: are we a rare cosmic accident, or is life a natural outcome of a universe rich in stars and planets?

Vote of thanks by Prof Barry Wright

Thomas Shutt is completing his PhD at York University and as an award winning teacher and communicator returned to talk at York Medical Society about the scientific and biological knowledge currently available to explain how life is thought to have emerged in the Universe. Thomas’s own specialty is asteroseismology. This is the study of what is inside a star (below the surface) from the external signals emitted. But he went much further on this cold and wet Friday evening, exploring how helium was created from hydrogen through fusion reactions in stars and then how bigger and more powerful fusion reactions took place in bigger and bigger stars creating larger elements. He then touched on how various other planetary behaviors and interactions led to creation of more complex elements, many of which are found in living things on earth. Whilst physicists and scientists have conducted experiments that successfully created amino acids and other molecules from molecular soups, no experiment has yet created new life from these molecular soups. He then touched on the vast number of galaxies in our universe (200 billion - 2 trillion) explaining that if each galaxy had a habitable planet in its system this creates the conditions (and probability) for possible forms of life elsewhere. One huge problem for us however is communicating with them. The nearest major galaxy to us is Andromeda which is 2.5 million light years away. Earth’s radio signal messages sent in their direction (through electromagnetic radiation) would take 2.5 million years to reach them and if they sent messages back at the speed of light we wouldn’t hear back for 5 million years, at which point we may not be around anymore! All in all, it was a very enjoyable and informative evening and taught us many new things, not least how relatively small we are compared to our huge and complex Universe.

At the end of the talk several audience members asked challenging questions all of which were answered comprehensively by Thomas.

Prof Barry Wright gave a vote of thanks before many present retired to supper in the rooms.

Stargazing Star Gazing – Visit to York Astronomical Society

Venue: Beetle Bank Farm, Moor Lane, Murton, York YO19 5XD

Tuesday 27th January 2026

Start time: 7.30pm. Ends 9pm (approx.)

Amateur astronomers Dave Armson and Andrew Stephenson will deliver a 30-minute indoor stargazing presentation and telescopic demonstration before we gaze up to the heavens. A unique sight timed for this evening will be a waxing half-moon passing close to the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) star cluster. Weather permitting, other highlights include a very bright Jupiter and its moons, Venus, the ringed planet Saturn, orange giant Aldebaran and many winter constellations including Orion and its nebula.

This event is kindly hosted by members of York Astronomical Society.  Children are most welcome accompanied by an adult YMS member.

Despite the cloudy skies we had a great talk and did get to view some of the telescopes.

Burns Supper and Ceilidh - Saturday 24th January 2026
 at Merchant Taylors Hall, Aldwark, York
7pm for 7.30pm 

Burns Night gives us a chance to dos-à-dos the night away in the wonder Merchant Taylor’s Hall.

Come and join our celebration of the bard’s birthday with a soupcon of haggis and a skirl of the pipes from a former World Champion, Cameron Edgar.

Johanna Lowther will propose the Immortal Memory and Gus McLaren will Address the Haggis

Enjoy a real fire and dram of whisky to keep you warm!!

Just what we need to brighten up our January, och aye the noo!

Music and dancing calls by Alterego      

A wonderful time was had by all. Click here to see how much fun we had.

The interactive seminar will use art to help us celebrate the often unnoticed small acts of care that when combined benefit all.

Click here to book.

Travels, tales and experiences from our 2025 Bursary winners:

Sarah Fergusson - Sun, Sea and Obs&Gynae! My Caribbean Adventure in Scarborough (Tobago!)

Charlotte Collin – From Manchester to Mombasa: The Diverse Landscape of Cardiology in the UK versus Kenya

Kojo Dankwa – Challenges on the Cape Coast: Tropical Disease, Surgery and O&G in Ghana  

Mahsa Mirzayee – Secrets of Panay Island: Ophthalmology and Paediatrics in Iloilo City, Philippines.

Mollie Merrifield - From Hull to a Fishing Village in Ghana: How my split elective transformed by view of the NHS 

Charity Social Event - The Magic of Christmas

York Celebration Singers and members of York Medical Society present Music Readings Humour Food Wine

A wonderful evening enjoyed by all.

Click here to watch a video of the event.

Proceeds from the evening will be donated to our World Charity for 2025-26: The International Committee of the Red Cross. c£700 raised so far.

There is still time to donate if you wish - email yorkmedicalsociety@gmail.com for our bank details

Professor Keith Frayn, PhD ScD, Emeritus Professor of Human Metabolism, Radcliffe Departmentof Medicine, University of Oxford

Winner of the British Nutrition Society's first-ever Blaxter Award and author of an acclaimed newbook.

We all know someone who seems to eat very little yet cannot avoid weight gain, or someone whoeats everything they like while remaining slim. Why? The last 10 years have seen increasingchallenges to the simple model of ‘calories in = calories out’. Even specialists are nowquestioning the forces that shape body weight. In this cutting edge talk, Professor Frayn takesus on a deep dive into the real science of energy balance. He provides a clear-eyed perspectiveon current trends mired in controversy and confusion: time-restricted eating, intermittent fasting,low-carb versus low-fat meal plans, high-protein breakfasts and other dietary fads. He shows usit is possible to reshape our lives and improve health by going back to what is known aboutcalories and getting smart about what to eat.

Vote of thanks by Dr Phil Duffey

On a dreary, wet night in York Professor Frayn served to the members of YMS a rich intellectual meal. During the first course we were reminded of the primacy of the first law of thermodynamics and the traditional ‘calories in - calories out’ model of weight regulation which asserts that calories unused for the maintenance of life and additional activities are stored in the form of fat. Professor Frayn then acknowledged that this model is under unprecedented challenge and in the main course expanded on some of the reasons for this and common misconceptions concerning weight and metabolism.
Professor Frayn explained that many of the earlier studies in this field had determined calories-in by recollection or diary entries. These had led to the suggestion that weight gain might be the consequence of a ‘slow metabolism’. Ultimately this was shown to be incorrect.  It was established that studies of this sort invariably under-report intake and that individuals with overweight tended to under-report by a greater margin. Professor Frayn then showed how metabolic rate can be estimated better by using radiolabelled hydrogen isotopes.
Next there was discussion of the energetics of obesity and the greater expenditure in the overweight plus the body’s response to dieting and calorie restriction, including the seminal work of Ancel Keys. We learnt that weight loss through dieting is difficult in part because energy expenditure is diminished in response to the diminished intake through the action of Leptin on the thyroid gland. These observations led to a wider review of weight regulation including genetic factors, the hypothalamus, an increasing number of hormones, particularly Leptin and Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and Set-point theory which Professor Frayn described as entrenched, vigorously defended and a myth!
As might have been anticipated there was no shortage of questions and comment. Many in the audience were particularly conscious of the social and economic factors influencing the eating behaviour and weight of their patients and themselves. A lively discussion continued over supper where Professor Frayn and his wife proved themselves easy and engaging conversationalists keen even to assist with the washing up.
Overall a great success.

Come and get into the festive spirit at 23 Stonegate and make your own Christmas Wreath.

Hosted by York School of Floristry, a special, creative festive workshop where you’ll learn how to use seasonal foliage and natural materials to make your own original wreath to take home.

The workshop was a huge success as demonstrated by the beautiful wreaths pictured below.

At this seminar, we will explore how film helps us understand the patient perspective of illness.

Book your tickets on Eventbrite

A selection of new wines for Christmas! 

** NOTE CHANGE OF DATE FROM THE PROGRAMME **

We are delighted to announce that we have a great selection of wines for our popular walk-around Christmas Tasting.

This is a great opportunity to meet friends and colleagues in the congenial surroundings of our wonderful Medical Society rooms.  

Why not invite colleagues to show the advantages of belonging to such an illustrious society?

We have selected forty exciting new wines/new vintages of old favourites to show to coincide with the new Christmas list.

Come and enjoy a range of over forty exciting whites and reds from France, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, South Africa and Chile.

Order your favourite wines for Christmas – at a special price for those attending.

Tickets are only £12 a head, for both members and their guests.

Please don’t hesitate to book, as we will close the list when the numbers dictate we are full.

Friday 21st November 2025 at 7.00 pm to 8.15 pm at 23 Stonegate, York YO1 8AW

RSVP  to York Medical Society Wine Club

Guest Speaker: Dr Neil Snowise – Medical Murderers

 Our president, Prof Paul Blenkiron, introduced the speaker using his trademark humour that was well matched and countered by Dr Snowise during his stimulating and memorable talk.

Dr Snowise started by dividing medical murderers into serial killers and single killers, the latter group being mainly males who murdered their wives, with the addition of their mother-in-law when required. He did not confine his talk to the medical profession noting that out of a series of 153 convicted multiple killers, 60% were nurses and 13% doctors. I.v. drugs were the most popular method with insulin being the most common and least easy to trace.

With serial killers, motives were complex and included the gaining of attention, ‘payback’ and ‘mercy’ killers. He reminded the older group in the audience of the case of nurse Beverley Allitt, now in a secure hospital after 30 years in custody, and awaiting a further mental health tribunal. Victorio Chua put insulin into saline bags, leaving it up to fate to decide who would die. Harold Shipman became ‘addicted’ to killing.

Single killers had simpler motives, the audience correctly guessing money and passion. Dr Snowise did note that many years ago it was possible to sell your wife at Smithfield market, previously adjacent to Barts, as an alternative to murder.  Plant based poisons were popular in the 18th C; aconitine, strychnine and arsenic being popular. There were a number of popular trials resulting in the hanging of the perpetrator. One of the most famous murderers of the 20th C was Dr Crippen who used hyoscine and was caught leaving the country on a transatlantic passage, an early use of radiotelegraphy.  This century methods remain the same although Prof Kim Sun filled yoga balls with CO, and sadly killed his daughter as well as his wife.

Finally, Dr Snowise discussed judicial aspects including conviction using circumstantial evidence as in the case of Dr Crickitt, who made a computer search as to how much insulin it would take to kill. This naturally led on to discussion of the current case of Lucy Letby, about which the speaker failed to be drawn. He finished with the case of Dr Bodkin Adams, no relation to the giver of the vote of thanks, who got off on technicalities.

Question time was lively and by the end the audience were well, perhaps too well, educated.

The Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dr Bob Adams who thanked the speaker for a fascinating prestation on a topic which, judging by the packed house, popular to many.

Medical Murderers - Methods and Motives 

Dr Neil Snowise FFPM – Pharmaceutical Physician and Visiting Senior Lecturer, Kings College, London

Doctors and nurses are in a unique position of trust (primum non nocere – ‘first, do no harm’). But with that trust comes knowledge and power over life and death. In this fascinating talk, Dr Snowise reveals how some of our most respected health professionals were able – literally – to get away with murder. From graveyards to poisons, court cases and the GMC, we explore the chilling paradox of those who spend years learning to preserve life but then turn their minds on ending it. Spanning three centuries to the present day, we look at nurses who have been serial killers, questioning their methods and motives. We then focus on doctors, especially physicians who murdered their spouses – why they did it, how they did it and how their methods have changed over the years. The conclusion examines why doctors think they will evade detection and asks whether justice is always done.

Vote of thanks by Prof Jim Drife

Dr Gibbins studied philosophy in Cambridge and is now based in Sowerby, having retired as Director of Postgraduate Research at the University of Newcastle-on-Tyne. He has published many books on the history of philosophy and politics. He told us his talk would explore “who we are and who we were”, and he began by recommending the multi-volume classic, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by his not-quite-namesake, Edward Gibbon. John said it is well worth reading because of its contemporary relevance, as Britain is still learning how to cope with decline after losing a great empire.

Roman society was remarkably well organised, but John acknowledged that it was a

patriarchy and that women, apart from a few in the upper echelons, were little more than slaves. Romans were more than patricians and plebeians. There was a large middle class, the “equestrians”, who could read and write and had social mobility. The system of justice was fair to all and was the same across the whole empire. Julius Caesar, he said, was a bad man who rode roughshod over the rules, and John likened him to Donald Trump.

Yorkshire has many Roman artefacts and sites which are yet to be fully excavated.

Beneath Aldborough is a city which could be England’s Pompeii. John recommended Paul Chrystal’s book on Roman York, and the Ordnance Survey map of Roman Britain. There are also collections from classical antiquity – Castle Howard has an altar from Delphi.

York was visited by three emperors besides Constantine because this was troublesome part of the frontier. The main tribe, the Brigantes, were very rebellious. The Ninth Legion was stationed in York and participated in the rebuilding of the fortress.

The Roman Empire lasted 800 years in Western Europe and another millennium in the

east. Why was it so successful? Because instead of subjugating “conquered” people, it

made friends with them. Anyone could become a Roman, and they did. Force was only necessary if people rebelled, as Boudicca did in 60AD, and the Jews in 70AD.

Not only was law constant across the empire, but so were the language and the

currency. Importantly, religion was polytheistic and all gods were tolerated. Each emperor could choose his religion, and Constantine happened to choose Christianity. Edward Gibbon suggested that this contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire, because Christianity was a pacifist religion which placed higher value on the individual than on the state.

What did the Romans do for Yorkshire? John answered, “Everything”. They gave us

philosophy, law, clean water and even a pan-European postal system, thanks to a network of well-made roads which still exist. When the Romans left, chaos ensued. But York’s walls protected it and a Roman lifestyle probably continued for many decades. A southern enclave of Roman soldiers may have given rise to the legend of King Arthur and the Round Table.

The talk stimulated many interesting questions.

Prof Drife proposed a vote of thanks to Dr Gibbins for a fascinating lecture which had contemporary relevance in post-Brexit Britain, and for letting us share his infectious sense of wonder at the Roman Empire’s remarkable achievements. The vote was carried unanimously with prolonged applause.

Dr John R Gibbins, BSc, MA, PhD, FBA, Wolfson College, Cambridge University and former Visiting Archivist, Wren Library

The Romans truly left their mark on us. Look around Yorkshire today and you will see this not only in the layout of our roads, towns, schools and hospitals, but in the way we live. This fascinating talk will explore the lasting legacy of Roman life across our law, language, religion, arts, knowledge and shared traditions. We will learn how four emperors visited York to reaffirm our cultural belonging and hear of new insights surrounding important local archaeological discoveries such as Isurium Brigantium and the Fortress of Eboracum.

Join us for a walking tour discovering the history and personalities of York led by Gary Bateson - York Tour Guide and Joseph Rowntree Theatre Trustee.

At 1.30pm we’ll walk through central York, hearing tales about familiar and some less well known buildings. Spanning its long historical heritage, from Romans to the medieval era, from the Industrial Revolution to modern media celebrities, we will discover what makes York such a fascinating place to explore.

Tea/Coffee and Cakes will be served afterward

You are then invited to join us for Evensong Celebration of St Luke at York Minster at 4pm.

Please see membership mailing to book or email yorkmedicalsociety@gmail.com

York Medical Society Annual Dinner at the Oak Room, Milner Hotel, York.

7.30 for 8.00pm

Music by The Blenkiron Sisters

£65 per person

Black Tie - Three Course Meal

Paired wines from York Medical Society Wine Club

Open to Society members and their guests

CLICK HERE TO ENJOY SOME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

CLICK HERE TO ENJOY MORE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

"Heart Disease in the 21st Century: Genes, Prevention and Treatment " 

    Professor Bernard Keavney BSc, BM BCh, DM, FRCP

Professor Bernard Keavney is the British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Manchester and NHS Consultant Cardiologist at Manchester Hospitals Foundation Trust. He is also Honorary Professor of Medicine at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, where his research helping to identify and fight cardiovascular disease in the African population was short listed for a Newton Award.

From 2014 to 2022, he was Chair of the International Scientific Advisory Board for UK Biobank - the world’s most detailed study tracking the long-term health of half a million people as they age.

Bernard’s clinical work at the Manchester Heart Centre focusses on heart disease in pregnancy and also on inherited cardiac and aortic conditions. He leads a multidisciplinary clinical team offering a service to people in the North-West of England. His scientific research looks at how differences in the genes we inherit from our parents increase our risk of heart and circulatory diseases. His team published the world's first studies of congenital heart disease to identify parts of the human genetic code that are important in heart development.

His innovative work is supported by the British Heart Foundation, Medical Research Council and National Institute of Health Research. He has published around 200 discovery science papers, reviews and book chapters, and is ranked in the top 1% of scientific authors. He has been a committed teacher, mentor and role model to many students, young scientists and medical doctors.

Paul Blenkiron, President

Alison Barrington from North Yorkshire Music Therapy Centre.

Also featuring Noteworthy Ladies Barbershop Quartet.

How do we engage with music? Does it provide the ultimate exercise for your brain?

This evening we uncover some extraordinary developments in the use of music as a therapeutic tool  across health care settings, hospitals, schools and daycentres - with a chance for you to participate too.

Noteworthy, the award-winning York Ladies Barbershop Quartet, will entertain us before and after the presentation.

The year started on the 12th October with our Annual Oration in the Societies rooms, 23 Stonegate, at 2pm.

Dr Gwen Adshead, forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist at Broadmoor Hospital, author of ‘The Devil You Know’ gave a talk entitled ‘Killing time: the work of a forensic psychotherapist”

The lecture room was full with over 70 in attendance.

The Annual Dinner followed in the evening in The Oak Room at The Principal Hotel

The evening was well attended with Tim Hughes and Paul Blenkiron giving some very entertaining speeches and Dr Gwen Adshead making the case that William Shakespeare could be regarded as the first forensic psychiatrist.

Dr Gwen Adshead is the 2024 Reith lecturer and her lecture series ” Four Questions about Violence” develops themes from her Oration and went out first on 24/11/24 and is available on the BBC.