Dr. Marjory Warren and the Origin of British Geriatrics

Abstract

The life and works of the pioneer British geriatrician, Marjory Warren, are worthy of closer examination. The transformation of a Public Assistance Institution into her unit at the West Middlesex Hospital in 1935 represented the first organized geriatric medicine service in the United Kingdom. She promoted multidisciplinary rehabilitation and holistic appreciation of elderly patients, and emphasized the economic, social, and moral problems associated with their care. She was particularly concerned with the rehabilitation of hemiplegics and amputees, preventive medicine, patient responsibility, and home nursing. She underscored the need for geriatrics to maintain a close link with general medicine and its training programs. Her innovative methods, influential writings, committee work, and personal force were instrumental in the evolution of modern British geriatrics and rehabilitation medicine.

O Ensino de Geriatria e Gerontologia na Graduação Médica

“…Seus alicerces estão nos primórdios da medicina geriátrica moderna, quando, no início do século XX, no West Middlesex Hospital da Inglaterra, a Drª. Marjory Warren prontificou-se a avaliar e reabilitar pacientes crônicos que praticamente residiam no hospital, restabelecendo o convívio social de vários indivíduos idosos 29 .…”

History of the development of geriatric medicine in the UK

“…This situation changed after the appointment of Marjory Warren as assistant medical officer at the West Middlesex Hospital in 1926. 10 In 1935, when the nearby Poor Law Infirmary was integrated into her own place of work, she was given the responsibility of caring for 714 chronically ill patients, many of them elderly.…”

Dr Marjory Warren CBE MRCS LRCP (1897–1960): the Mother of British Geriatric Medicine

“…Clearly he had an effect upon the boy since Dr MacBryan became the model for Sir Roderick. 1 Records concerning the doctor are scarce and so we cannot be sure how much of the original made its way into the literary character. Dr MacBryan made application to run a private asylum in West Derby in Lancashire, and also appeared on the staff list of the Hanwell County Asylum in 1884.…”