James Calvert Spence
Encyclopedia
James Calvert Spence MC & Bar
(19 March 1892 – 1954), was a paediatrician who was a pioneer in the field of social paediatrics.
, Northumberland, the fourth son and seventh child of an architect (David Magnus Spence) and his wife Isabella Turnbull. After being educated at Elmfield College
, York
, he attended the Durham College of Medicine in Newcastle upon Tyne
.
Coquet High School in Amble was named after him on 1 January 2011.
, Egypt and the Western Front
winning an MC and later a bar, Spence worked as a house physician at the Royal Victoria Infirmary
(RVI) in Newcastle upon Tyne
and then moved on to work as a casualty officer at Great Ormond Street in London. He returned to Newcastle in 1922, where he took up the post of medical registrar and chemical pathologist at the RVI. He also joined the medical staff of a day nursery, in West Parade, Newcastle, which had been set up by a local wealthy lady to look after the children of munitions workers. The day nursery eventually became the Newcastle Babies' Hospital and provided the foundation for much of Spence's future work.
In this institution, Spence and his staff developed the practice of Social Paediatrics, which will always be associated with his name. In 1926–27 he spent a year at the Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore
, returning to the RVI in 1928. The period 1928–34 saw the publication of many of his most important works on scientific medicine. During the depression years, Spence was invited by the Newcastle city health committee to carry out a comparative study of 'The Health and Nutrition of Certain of the Children of Newcastle upon Tyne between the Ages of One and Five Years'. Spence showed that 36 per cent of the children from 'poor districts of the city were unhealthy or physically unfit.' The correlation with malnutrition was not found in the control group of better class families, showing that the problem was preventable.
Spence began the practice, then unique in Britain, of admitting mothers to hospital with their sick children, so that they might nurse them and feel responsible for the child's recovery. Spence had begun receiving offers of professorial chairs, but declined them all as it would mean leaving Newcastle and the work to which he felt dedicated. He was by now paediatric physician at the Newcastle General Hospital and honorary physician to the Royal Victoria Infirmary. He also became Nuffield Professor of Child Health at Newcastle in 1942, and in 1948 when the National Health Service was established, Spence was a government adviser.
A subsequent study into infant mortality, again commissioned by the City Council, found the highest levels of infant mortality to be in the poorest areas of the city. The main cause of the excess mortality in these areas appeared to be infection. These two studies led on to one of the first ever longitudinal birth cohort studies, the Newcastle Thousand Families Study
, although with the outbreak of the second world war, it was not until 1947 that the members of this cohort could be recruited. The Thousand Families Study was the basis of much of community paediatrics for the next 50 years.
ed in 1950. He summed up the practice of medicine as follows:
The Yellow Brick Road Children's Medical Research Centre at the Royal Victoria Infirmary
is officially dedicated to Sir James Spence. The cost of £5 million was raised entirely from people in the North East of England in less than four years by the North-East Charity, the Childrens' Foundation.
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
(19 March 1892 – 1954), was a paediatrician who was a pioneer in the field of social paediatrics.
Early life
Spence was born in AmbleAmble
Amble is a town, civil parish and seaport on the North Sea coast, in Northumberland, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Coquet, and the nearby Coquet Island is clearly visible from its beaches and harbour. The civil parish, which has town status, is called Amble by the Sea, and has a...
, Northumberland, the fourth son and seventh child of an architect (David Magnus Spence) and his wife Isabella Turnbull. After being educated at Elmfield College
Elmfield College
Elmfield College, York , originally called "Connexional College" or "Jubilee College" in honour of the Primitive Methodist Silver Jubilee in 1860, was a Primitive Methodist college on the outskirts of Heworth, York, England, near Monk Stray.-Primitive Methodism in York:The college was a national...
, York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, he attended the Durham College of Medicine in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
.
Coquet High School in Amble was named after him on 1 January 2011.
Medical career
After World War I, where he served in GallipoliGallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, Egypt and the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
winning an MC and later a bar, Spence worked as a house physician at the Royal Victoria Infirmary
Royal Victoria Infirmary
Originally founded as the Newcastle Infirmary in 1751, the Royal Victoria Infirmary , in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, was opened on 11 July 1906 by Edward VII on of Town Moor given by the Corporation and Freemen. The fully furnished and equipped hospital, containing twenty wards, a nurses' home,...
(RVI) in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
and then moved on to work as a casualty officer at Great Ormond Street in London. He returned to Newcastle in 1922, where he took up the post of medical registrar and chemical pathologist at the RVI. He also joined the medical staff of a day nursery, in West Parade, Newcastle, which had been set up by a local wealthy lady to look after the children of munitions workers. The day nursery eventually became the Newcastle Babies' Hospital and provided the foundation for much of Spence's future work.
In this institution, Spence and his staff developed the practice of Social Paediatrics, which will always be associated with his name. In 1926–27 he spent a year at the Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, returning to the RVI in 1928. The period 1928–34 saw the publication of many of his most important works on scientific medicine. During the depression years, Spence was invited by the Newcastle city health committee to carry out a comparative study of 'The Health and Nutrition of Certain of the Children of Newcastle upon Tyne between the Ages of One and Five Years'. Spence showed that 36 per cent of the children from 'poor districts of the city were unhealthy or physically unfit.' The correlation with malnutrition was not found in the control group of better class families, showing that the problem was preventable.
Spence began the practice, then unique in Britain, of admitting mothers to hospital with their sick children, so that they might nurse them and feel responsible for the child's recovery. Spence had begun receiving offers of professorial chairs, but declined them all as it would mean leaving Newcastle and the work to which he felt dedicated. He was by now paediatric physician at the Newcastle General Hospital and honorary physician to the Royal Victoria Infirmary. He also became Nuffield Professor of Child Health at Newcastle in 1942, and in 1948 when the National Health Service was established, Spence was a government adviser.
A subsequent study into infant mortality, again commissioned by the City Council, found the highest levels of infant mortality to be in the poorest areas of the city. The main cause of the excess mortality in these areas appeared to be infection. These two studies led on to one of the first ever longitudinal birth cohort studies, the Newcastle Thousand Families Study
Thousand Families Study, Newcastle upon Tyne
The initial thoughts leading to the development of the Thousand Families Study arose through observations made by Sir James Spence, one of the first ever full time paediatricians in the United Kingdom, and from 1942, the first holder of a University Chair of Child Health in England.Prior to the...
, although with the outbreak of the second world war, it was not until 1947 that the members of this cohort could be recruited. The Thousand Families Study was the basis of much of community paediatrics for the next 50 years.
Medical Philosophy
Spence always laid stress on the inclusion of the home as well as the hospital in the care of the sick child and throughout his teaching emphasised the preventive as well as the curative aspect of paediatrics. Spence combined clinical skills with great sensitivity as a doctor and his whimsical charm made him a most attractive personality. As a teacher and leader, he was outstanding and wrote: 'The first aim of my department is comradeship, not achievement.' His own achievements were of course great, and for his services to British medicine and medical education, he was knightKnight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in 1950. He summed up the practice of medicine as follows:
The real work of a doctor is not an affair of health centres, or laboratories, or hospital beds. Techniques have their place in medicine, but they are not medicine. The essential unit of medical practice is the occasion when, in the intimacy of the consulting room or sick room, a person who is ill, or believes himself to be ill, seeks the advice of a doctor whom he trusts. This is a consultation, and all else in the practice of medicine derives from it.
The Yellow Brick Road Children's Medical Research Centre at the Royal Victoria Infirmary
Royal Victoria Infirmary
Originally founded as the Newcastle Infirmary in 1751, the Royal Victoria Infirmary , in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, was opened on 11 July 1906 by Edward VII on of Town Moor given by the Corporation and Freemen. The fully furnished and equipped hospital, containing twenty wards, a nurses' home,...
is officially dedicated to Sir James Spence. The cost of £5 million was raised entirely from people in the North East of England in less than four years by the North-East Charity, the Childrens' Foundation.