28/06/10
Professor Paul Wainwright 1948-2010
It was with enormous shock and great sadness that we learnt of the tragic death of our colleague, Professor Paul Wainwright, on June 16th at the age of 62.
Paul qualified as a registered nurse in Southampton and worked as a nurse, nurse manager, professional advisor, nurse teacher and researcher in Cornwall, Oxford and Manchester. He completed an MA in the ethics of healthcare and a PhD at the University of Wales, Swansea. Paul was Reader in Humanities and Healthcare and Joint Head of the Centre for Philosophy, Humanities and Law in Healthcare at Swansea before moving to Kingston University and St George’s, University of London in January 2005 when he was appointed to the Muriel Powell Chair in Nursing in the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences. For the past three years Paul held the role of Associate Dean for Research and led the Faculty through a successful Research Assessment Exercise in 2008.
From the time of his appointment, Paul's presence and enthusiasm contributed hugely to improving research quality through developing, encouraging and stretching the imagination and confidence of staff, particularly in the School of Nursing. As well as building research capacity, he took great pleasure in supporting teachers, his students and clinical practitioners and helping people move from being research averse to competent players.
Paul was a man of many parts. His interests were eclectic, interdisciplinary and ranged across the nature of professional and ethical nursing; the theoretical foundations of nursing practice; the education and development of practitioners and the relationship between the humanities and healthcare practice. He had recently published on a wide range of topics, including conflicts of interest in safeguarding children, research ethics, assisted suicide, the meaning of practice and dignity in care. He was the chair of ethics committees in the Faculty, for several hospital trusts as well as the Royal College of Nursing. However, despite being a man of ideas, he was not shy of the real world of practice, and at the time of his death was engaged through research in a number of clinical settings, including Mayday University Hospital, Kingston Hospital, the Royal Marsden and St George’s. His reach went beyond south-west London; he was a well known figure nationally, in European nursing circles, North America and beyond.
Since his untimely death, tributes to Paul have come from across the universities of Kingston and St George’s, the South West London Academic Network (SWan), the international world of nursing and also his own academic community of philosophy and ethics. What is conveyed in these words is of course sorrow and shock as colleagues try to make sense of his loss, but they are also a reflection of the impact he has had on others, both close at hand and far afield. The ideas he was pursuing, in many ways and through different academic and interdisciplinary relationships, formed his contribution to articulating a value–based approach to the work of nursing and patient care. Not surprisingly, he would be the first to challenge our contemporary slavishness to the pursuit of metrics whether in the quantification of nursing or research quality and he was always keen to stretch the boundaries through analysis and argument, which contributed to stimulating committee meetings!
Paul Wainwright was an insightful colleague, inspiring teacher, challenging thinker and a good friend. He will be remembered for his generosity, sense of humour and seeing things from a different, but helpful place. His regard for others exemplifies the principles of value, respect and dignity that he wrote about as the basis of professional practice. He was prodigiously well read, a keen birdwatcher, an expert kayaker and a qualified coach. At the time of his death he was on a short sabbatical to catch up with writing after his stint as Associate Dean, which he was finding invigorating and productive. We will miss him hugely and our thoughts are with his wife and family.
Professor Peter Kopelman, Principal of St George’s, University of London, said: “Paul was an extremely warm, generous character, who was widely known and respected for his teaching and research. He was a supportive colleague and good friend to many people who worked with him. He will be greatly missed.”
Professor Peter Scott, Vice-Chancellor of Kingston University, said: “Paul will be sorely missed by many people in our community, as well as in the wider health and education sectors. My deepest sympathies are with Paul’s colleagues, his friends and family.”
A memorial event will be arranged for Paul Wainwright in the early autumn. Details will be published here.
