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Emeritus Consultants Biographies
Robert Paton was born in Cottesloe in February 1926, the son of James and Lillian Paton. Educated at Scotch College he was a keen sportsman excelling at cricket and swimming and at one stage was captain of the school's swimming team. He went to Adelaide University to study medicine as there was no medical faculty at the University of Western Australia at that time. While in Adelaide he met Nancy Black who was also studying medicine and they married in 1951. After qualifying they returned to Perth where their first daughter was born. Bob did his residency at the Royal Perth Hospital and then the family moved to England where he took up an appointment at St Mary's Hospital and started his surgical training. Bob Paton and his family returned to Perth in 1957 and in 1962 he was appointed honorary general surgeon at the Royal Perth Hospital. By this time his family comprised four daughters, the last two being twins. In 1965 he started to specialize as a vascular surgeon and established the vascular surgery unit at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Until that time vascular surgery had not yet developed into a speciality in its own right but once this occurred Perth quickly gained a reputation as a leader in the field. He trained many surgeons in this speciality and today vascular surgery is well recognised in its own right. He was a member and chairman of many committees and was a member of the Board of the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for ten years from 1973-1983. Bob and Nancy divorced and in 1993 Bob married Athena Reynolds. In 2003 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Surgery by the University of Western Australia and in 2003 he was honoured with the award of the Order of Australia Medal. Robert Paton died in December 2004. |
