The final helping

neil donnelly

it was the summer of 1966, the height of the swinging sixties, england had won the world Cup and a young boy from the welsh Valleys was about to start his four-year Nutrition and Dietetics Degree Course.

Based in Battersea, South of the Thames, I was looking forward to both the course and experiencing the ‘London Scene’. Little did I know that up the road at Ealing Technical College the year before, one of the most intelligent, influential and empathetic dietitians of my generation had started her dietetic training.

Over the years I got to know Pat Judd well enough to call her a friend. Her professional achievements are many, but for me, two things stand out. One is the 25 years that she was the Course Coordinator for Dietetics at Kings College London. The other was her Editorship of our professional journal Nutrition and Dietetics. In both of these roles, her commitment to the Dietetic Profession could not have been more obvious and her name will be known and revered by hundreds, if not thousands, of dietitians practising today.

Pat later became Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, which was a stone’s throw from my place of work in Blackpool. We were honoured

. . . her commitment to the Dietetic

Profession could not have been more obvious and her name will be known

and revered by hundreds . . .

Neil is a Fellow of the BDA and retired Dietetic services Manager. His main areas of interest are weight management and eating disorders to have such a distinguished and approachable person close by, close enough for me to ask her to be on the Editorial Board on the short-lived successor to the BDA Adviser magazine. She, of course, accepted despite her many other commitments.

Pat’s illness arrived with little warning early in February. Her death was announced on 6th March. Her funeral on 16th March at Preston Crematorium was attended by many former colleagues and friends, some who had travelled long distances. Tributes were given by Moira Nash and Margaret Lawson, her friend and colleague of 50 years since student days at Ealing. We also learned more about the family side of Pat and her hobbies of narrow-boating and amazing skills in textiles and quilting. Tony, her husband of just a few days and partner for some 37 years, has requested that an Award be set up in Pat’s memory. This is a BDA award to recognise the overwhelming contribution that one person has made to the evidence based practice of Dietetics and the attitudinal approach that we should all be offering to those we wish to help.

Pat laid down a marker for us all and I hope that our professional association will, as they have done already with her Fellowship in 1998, take this opportunity and seek advice as to the most appropriate way forward to recognise the contribution of this remarkable, respected and much missed colleague and friend.