David Nott | |
|---|---|
 Addressing the "Keep Her Safe" conference, November 2013 | |
| Born | David Malcolm Nott 1956 (age 68–69) Carmarthen, Wales |
| Education | Hulme Grammar School,University of St Andrews,University of Manchester |
| Known for | Working as a volunteer surgeon in war zones |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Surgeon |
| Institutions | Charing Cross;Chelsea and Westminster;St Mary's;Royal Marsden |
| Sub-specialties | General surgery,vascular surgery |
| Awards | Robert Burns Humanitarian Award (2016) |
David Malcolm NottOBE OStJ FRCS (born 1956) is a Welsh consultant surgeon who mainly works in London hospitals as ageneral andvascular surgeon, but also volunteers to work in disaster and war zones. Having recognised that training others could greatly increase his capacity to help, Nott established theDavid Nott Foundation, along with his wife Elly, to organise training in emergency surgery for others working in war and disaster zones.[1] He has been honoured for this dangerous work and is now often styled the "Indiana Jones of surgery".[2][3]
Nott was born inCarmarthen in 1956 and lived with his grandparents atTrelech, near Carmarthen, until the age of four.[4] He then lived in the Midlands andRochdale from where he attendedHulme Grammar School.[5][6] His father, Malcolm George Nott, was born inBurma and educated inMadras, India, and was half-Indian and half-Burmese.[7] He was anorthopaedic and trauma surgeon, specialising inhip replacement;[5] his mother, born Yvonne Jones, was a nurse from Wales.[5][8] His father encouraged Nott to follow him into a medical career,[8][9] and also inspired his son's later war work by taking him to see the 1984 filmThe Killing Fields.[9]
Nott was not successful at school initially but, after resitting hisA-Levels, he studied medicine at the universities ofSt Andrews andManchester, graduating in 1981.[5]
As a child, often left on his own, Nott was fascinated with buildingmodel aircraft and later learned to fly, gaining both aprivate pilot licence and acommercial pilot licence. He became an air transport pilot and flew for Hamlin Jet inLuton, as a side job, for about ten years.[4][10][11]
During his medical training in Manchester and Liverpool, he was attracted to surgery.[5] He took a special interest in vascular surgery after watching a Liverpool surgeon, Peter Harris, save someone by operating on their rupturedaortic aneurysm.[5] He combined this with general surgery, practising at London hospitals includingCharing Cross,Chelsea and Westminster,St Mary's and theRoyal Marsden.[5] As a vascular surgeon, he specialises inkeyhole techniques, especially for repairs ofabdominal aortic aneurysms, anddistal arterial bypasses.[10][12] In 1999, he was the first surgeon in the world to perform afemoral-popliteal bypass using only laparoscopic techniques.[10] His other work includesappendectomies;hernia repairs; removal oflipomas andhaemorrhoids; and treatment of varicose veins usingligation orsclerotherapy.[10]
He began working in disaster and war zones in 1993, when he saw footage of the war inSarajevo. He has worked in disaster and war zones for several weeks each year since then, working as a volunteer surgeon for agencies such asMédecins Sans Frontières and theRed Cross. He has also served in a similar capacity for theRoyal Auxiliary Air Force, where he holds the rank ofwing commander.[13]
The locations of his work have includedAfghanistan,Bosnia,Chad,Darfur,Gaza,Haiti,Iraq,Libya,Sierra Leone and opposition-held areas ofSyria.[5][9] Between 2013 and 2014 Nott trained and assisted medical students and other doctors to conduct trauma surgeries in opposition-held EastAleppo.[14]
During the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, he visited Ukraine to train surgeons, in conjunction withUOSSM International.[15]
On a mission to Libya, Nott began to realise that many of the medical staff there were not trained for the kinds of traumatic injuries they were encountering. He began running a Definitive Surgical Trauma Skills workshop for his colleagues in the hospital.[16] This experience, in part, led to Nott setting up the David Nott Foundation in 2015, along with his wife Elly, who led the charity as Chief Executive until 2019.[17] The foundation is aimed at assisting with the training of surgeons for areas of conflict.[18][19]
The David Nott Foundation provides surgical training for doctors and nurses who work in war and disaster zones. The training courses focus on life-saving surgical procedures for austere environments, with doctors given the opportunity to practice on real bodies, supported by other resources, including videos and anatomical models.[20] The courses are run with theRoyal College of Surgeons for five days every six months and are fully funded by the foundation through a scholarship scheme for surgeons working in hostile conditions.[21]
These courses are also delivered on the front line, where doctors are unable to leave their posts, and have been held in Yemen, Libya and Iraq, among others.[22] The front line Hostile Environment Surgical Training courses (HEST) last for four days. They focus on a wide range of skills, including treating gun shot wounds and carrying out vascular surgery, with the help of a full-body simulator.[23] The simulator is a perfectly accurate model of the human body and can be used to demonstrate various procedures.[24]
In 2022, the foundation provided surgical training for areas of conflict in Ukraine, during theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[25][26]
Nott was admitted as a fellow to the Royal College of Surgeons in 1989. He was appointed anOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2012 Birthday Honours.[27] In 2016 he received theRobert Burns Humanitarian Award and the Pride of Britain Award. He received honorary degrees from theUniversity of Salford in 2015,[28] from theUniversity of St Andrews in 2017,[29] and was given a honorary doctorate by theUniversity of Wales Trinity Saint David in July 2017.[30] Nott was shortlisted for theRSL Christopher Bland Prize for his bookWar Doctor in 2020.[31]
In 2015 Nott married Eleanor ("Elly"). They have a daughter.[3][32] Elly worked for theInstitute of Strategic Studies before taking on her role with the foundation.[3][32]
In 2014 he had lunch with theQueen.[9][13] When he found it difficult to speak about his traumatic experiences, she put him at ease by inviting him to take twenty minutes (and some dog biscuits) to befriend hercorgis.[33] In 2016 Nott appeared on BBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs: his music choices included "Gimme Shelter" byThe Rolling Stones' and "Fix You" byColdplay, his favourite being "Good Golly, Miss Molly" byLittle Richard. His book choice wasKallimni Arabi Mazboot, and his luxury item was afishing rod.[4] Also in 2016 he spoke of his Christian faith on BBC1'sVictoria Derbyshire.[34][35] In 2020 he appeared inChristmas University Challenge in theManchester team which was beaten in the final byThe Courtauld Institute of Art.[36]
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