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Bryan Jennett | |
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 Bryan Jennett in his office. | |
| Born | 1 March 1926 Twickenham, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 26 January 2008 (2008-01-27) (aged 81) Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Education | University of Liverpool School of Medicine |
| Known for | Glasgow Coma Scale |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neurosurgery |
| Institutions | University of California, Los Angeles,University of Glasgow |
William Bryan JennettCBE (1 March 1926 – 26 January 2008)[1][2] was an English neurosurgeon, a faculty member at theUniversity of Glasgow Medical School, and the first full-time chair of neurosurgery in Scotland. He was the co-developer of the assessment tool known as theGlasgow Coma Scale and made advancements in the care of patients with brain injuries. in 1972, Jennett and the neurologistFred Plum coined the termvegetative state.[3]
Jennett was born and raised inTwickenham to Irish and Scottish parents. Jennett was evacuated from Twickenham during the Second World War.[4] He first moved to rural Scotland and later toSouthport, Lancashire where he attendedKing George V Grammar School before training as a doctor at theUniversity of Liverpool.
Jennett studied atLiverpool Medical School. He finished top of his year and was President of the national British Medical Students Association. Jennett's first mentor in medicine,Henry Cohen, 1st Baron Cohen of Birkenhead, encouraged him toward a career in neurosurgery.[5] He went on to take posts at Oxford, Cardiff and Manchester as well as a spell in theRoyal Army Medical Corps.
His academic interests were not congruent with the times and he was turned down for promotion in Oxford, Manchester and Dundee. He believed that the NHS at the time placed too much emphasis on patronage and were not supportive of academic interests. He considered a permanent move to America after a one-yearRockefeller Fellowship atUCLA, but was headhunted in 1963 for a new combined NHS/University position in Glasgow. Over the next ten years he became a Professor and moved to a purpose built unit at the Southern General Hospital.
Prior to moving to Glasgow, Jennett published work on epilepsy following head injuries. He publishedIntroduction to Neurosurgery in 1964.
Jennett set up a prospective computerised data bank to collect the features and outcome of head injuries. Data was compiled from Glasgow, the United States, and theNetherlands over a long period and led to a series of papers in the 1970s, the introduction of the near universally adoptedGlasgow Coma Scale (GCS) withGraham Teasdale, and theGlasgow Outcome Scale with Bond. In 1972 working with Dr Plum of America, Jennett publishedThe Persistent Vegetative State – defining a condition and coining a phrase which remains in widespread use today. His work with the Glasgow-based Neuropathologists Adams and Graham significantly reduced mortality and disability. Many international collaborative studies followed, comparing outcomes after different severity of injury and with alternative therapeutic regimes.
In 1976 there was furore over aBBCPanorama Programme which questioned the criteria for the establishment ofbrain death in potential organ donors.[6] Jennett was in demand as a speaker and in the UK contributed to medical panels and was called to Court as an expert witness, most notably for theTony Bland case.
Jennett was Dean of Medicine at Glasgow in the 1980s.[7] He worked with Barbara Stocking and Chris Ham of theKing's Fund to establish a series of Consensus Conferences to deal with the appropriate use of high-cost medical technology.
He was President of the International Society for Technology Assessment and in 1984 he publishedHigh Technology Medicine: Benefits and Burdens followed a series of BBC talksDoctors, Patients & Responsibilities which were widely praised.[citation needed]
In 1988 he developeddeep-vein thrombosis (DVT) which he blamed on the cramped seating on an aircraft. Along with colleagues who had similar experiences, he published a short paper inThe Lancet. This was the first use of the term "economy-class syndrome".
Jennett retired in 1991. In his later years, he was namedCommander of the Order of the British Empire[8] (CBE) and received an honorary doctorate fromSt Andrews University. His continuing work included a 2002 monograph,The Vegetative State, and his final publication appeared in theBritish Journal of Neurosurgery in 2008. He died a few weeks after that final publication, having been diagnosed withmultiple myeloma five years earlier. His wife Sheila and his three children survived him.[9]
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