Psychiatric Bulletin (2007) 31: 237. doi: 10.1192/pb.bp.107.015750
© 2007 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Clair Gurney
Alan Kerr
Formerly Consultant Psychiatrist, St Nicholas Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Clair Gurney was born in Whitley Bay in 1933, qualified in medicine at the
University of Edinburgh and then returned to her roots in the north-east of
England for her house appointments and for the rest of her career. She began
in psychiatry as a junior hospital medical officer at St Nicholas Hospital in
Newcastle-upon-Tyne until invited by Professor (later Sir) Martin Roth to join
the research team he had started to assemble. The group was later funded by
the Medical Research Council and Clair remained there as senior research
associate for 16 years, a length of tenure which conveyed the high regard in
which she was held by Professor Roth and his colleagues.
Clair was meticulous, thorough and reliable in her research projects. Her
prime role was to obtain biographical, personality and clinical information
from patients by personal interview using a structured pro forma and to record
a detailed, descriptive history. The 1960s and 1970s were a time when junior
research psychiatrists in Newcastle were given generous time and resources, as
well as expert guidance and advice from Martin Roth and Roger Garside. In a
study carried out with physicians, the data Clair collected demonstrated that
items from psychiatric observation added substantially to the information from
physical symptoms and signs, and laboratory tests, in the differentiation of
thyrotoxic from euthyroid patients with psychiatric disorder among a group of
patients with suspected hyperthyroidism. The foundation of a larger
investigation into the differentiation of anxiety states and depressive
disorders again rested on the quality of information painstakingly elicited by
Clair in the course of structured interview. Her sensitivity and empathy
ensured whole-hearted cooperation from patients, which was much appreciated by
her colleagues who interviewed the same patients at follow-up 4 years
later.
Clair also acquired a thorough understanding of the application of
multivariate statistical analyses which were emerging at that time and which
enable systematic examination of the presence of symptom clusters, patient
groupings, diagnostic separations and predictive indices within the field of
affective disorders. In a session in this field held at the World Psychiatric
Association meeting in Mexico City, Clair charmed the audience by delivering
her opening remarks in fluent Spanish.
After her lengthy period in research Clair returned to St Nicholas Hospital
as associate specialist, remaining there until retirement in 1988, having
repeatedly declined exhortations from her colleagues to apply for a permanent
consultant post (although she eventually accepted an acting post), as she
wished to have regular time to support her mother and sister.
Clair was a private person with a delightful sense of humour. Those who
worked with her recall with affection her charm, modesty, thoughtfulness and
generosity of spirit. In retirement she was able to devote more time to her
life-long passion for birdwatching, often using the caravan she and her
husband Ian, a senior lecturer in theoretical physics, enjoyed on the
Northumberland coast. Her other great pleasure was playing the piano. It is
poignant that failing strength in her fingers was the first symptom of motor
neurone disease which Clair herself diagnosed, and which ran a rapidly
progressive course to the time of her death in June 2006.
