Psychiatric Bulletin (2006) 30: 198-199. doi: 10.1192/pb.30.5.198
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Psychiatric Bulletin (2006) 30: 198-199
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Naresh Gandhi
Formerly Consultant Psychiatrist in Intensive Care at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health, Park Royal, North West London
Peter Tyrer
Dr Naresh Gandhi died from a bleeding duodenal ulcer on 14 August 2005. He
was just 43.
Dr Gandhi graduated in Bombay in 1984 and obtained his MD in 1989. He was
an outstanding student and, in addition to showing excellence in all areas of
the medical curriculum, his flamboyance and cheery self-confidence made him a
magnet for other students. He found time to edit an in-house university
magazine and a science journal, which he continued to do with great success
for many years. He decided to specialise in psychiatry early and came to
England in 1989. After completing his senior house officer training and
engaging in research projects, he was appointed as Lecturer in Psychiatry at
Imperial College in 1993 before becoming a consultant in Intensive Care
Psychiatry at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health in 1995.
At Park Royal, he quickly established a comprehensive service for forensic
patients in an area of the country which has been shown to have an excessive
demand (Coid et al,
2001). His combination of great self-confidence, ability to
rapidly analyse a situation and to make bold decisions made him a very popular
and effective clinician. His court reports were a model of clarity and
precision and his opinion was increasingly sought by solicitors who wanted
someone to pronounce without obfuscation and caveats on important clinical
issues. He was also an effective manager of the service at Park Royal and in
many ways this became an additional medium forensic secure unit in all but
name.
Dr Gandhi was a man of razor-sharp intelligence who was very impatient to
get things done. Although this was somewhat of a handicap when he was doing
research, as he always seemed to know the answer before the research was
completed, it was a tremendous asset in forensic mental health services, and
the service could always rely on Naresh to find solutions when many others
would have failed. He was always willing to give advice but very rarely needed
to seek any himself.
Naresh continued to remain firmly and deliberately in the ‘line of
fire’ throughout his working life. He worked excessively long hours and
never shirked a new challenge, particularly if it involved a slight element of
risk. This may have had a bearing on his final illness, as there was always
some new enterprise pressing and as he was always optimistically convinced
that everything was for the best, he failed to seek advice for his symptoms
until he was very ill.
He married Alison, a Scot, in 1993 and had two sons, aged 10 and 16, of
whom he was very proud. Naresh, as might have been predicted from his
international spirit, readily embraced all aspects of his new culture with
gusto and was equally at home with Indian and Scottish music, which had he
lived, he would probably have tried to meld into a common form. He leaves a
deep hole in forensic psychiatric practice and an even bigger one for his
family, many friends and colleagues in North West London.
References
COID, J., KAHTAN, N., GAULT, S., et al (2001)
Medium secure forensic psychiatry services. Comparison of seven English health
regions. British Journal of Psychiatry,
178, 55-61.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
