William Gissane (Apr 1898 – Apr 1981)

  • Born April 26th 1898 at Redfern, Sydney, Australia.
  • Educated at St Ignatius college, Sydney where he was the captain of cricket, boxing champion and represented the Great Public Schools of New South Wales at both cricket and rugby
  • On leaving school in1917 he enlisted with the Royal Australian Artillery After demobilization he attended medical school in Sydney.
  • MB Sydney 1925
  • FRCS Ed 1927 
  • MRCS and FRCS 1932
  • Hon FRACS 1959
  • CBE 1964.
  • 1925 graduated, in the same year he left for Britain where he obtained the FRCS Edinburgh and England, later becoming Honorary FRACS.
  • Gissane’s interest in accident surgery began when he served in London in 1938
  • Mid 30s he visited Böhler’s Allgemare, Unfallkrankehars clinic in Vienna and was greatly influenced. Came back convinced of the value of organisation and methods that he saw there
  • Publications reflect his wide surgical interests
  • Successful surgery for stab wound to heart (Gissane & Schulenberg 1937)
  • Intussception (Gissane 1938)
  • Open fractures (Gissane 1939)
  • Post traumatic cerebrospinal rhinorrhoea (Gissane & Rankin 1940)
  • 1938 Gissane married a staff nurse who had worked in his theatre for four years, his son (William) became a chemical engineer
  • During 1941 a group of Birmingham businessmen decided to re-open the old Queen’s Hospital for the treatment of accidents and Gissane became first clinical director and surgeon-in-chief.
  • Quickly transformed the Birmingham Accident Hospital into an internationally renowned centre and attracted men like Leonard Colbrook as director of the MRC Burns Research Unit and others such as Miles, Robert Williams, Bull, Lowbury and later Ruscoe Clarke, Jackson and Sevitt.
  • Later visited Sven Johnson’s unit in Sweden.  Here he learned about the technique of closed nailing of fracture of the neck of femur.  Was the first to use such techniques in England
  • His work on the reduction of road and industrial accidents brought him international recognition
  • 1964 made CBE and was awarded an honorary DSc from the University of Wales and a life membership of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons
  • Became Vice-President of the British Orthopaedic Association delivering the Robert Jones Lecture in 1961
  • His interest in accident problems brought him into contact with industrial processes and machinery and motor cars and the work of the accident hospital had considerable influence over faults on car safety and seat belts.
  • Made an honorary member of the American Association of Automobile Engineers.
  • 1959 extensive tour as Sir Arthur Sims’ Commonwealth Travelling Professor, he lectured in South Africa, Canada and Europe.
  • 1961 Birmingham University made him an honorary and personal Professor of Accident Surgery.
  • The Modern Car – Gissane was asked to assist Rover Designers to help make a much safer car. 
  • He contributed ‘The Safety Zone’ – ridged passenger area, the removal of ll projectiles from the front of cars, ‘The Crumple Zone’, The minimum tyre depth etc
  • Life member of the Edgbaston golf club.
  • Honorary Medical Advisor Warwickshire Cricket Club
  • Remained in harness until 17 years after he retired
  • Gissane was famous for quoting a Chinese proverb:
  • “If you plan for a year plant corn, if you plan for 20 years plant timber, if you plan for 100 years plant men”
  • Gissane concept to separate the sick from the injured
  • He died in his sleep on 1 April 1981 – the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the Birmingham Accident Hospital
  • The day before his death he was working on a paper in relation to vehicle safety
  • Had a wife and son

Honours and Awards

  • Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) some thought he should have been Sir William Gissane
  • Work with road accidents:
    • Carman of the Year 1973
    • Honorary and Personal Chair in Accident Surgery, University of Birmingham
    • Vice President BOA (British Orthopaedic Association)
    • Honorary President BPA (British Association of Plastic Surgeons)
    • Honorary member of the American Society of Automobile Engineers
    • Lectures
      • Robert Jones Lecturer (1961)
      • Alex Simpson Smith Lecture (1961)
      • Ruscoe-Clark Memorial Lecture (1966)
      • Sir Arthur Simon Commonwealth Travelling Professor 1959 “Australia”

Gissane’s Vision – 8 Ideas

  1. Civilian accidents were virtually neglected in the field of primary care.  There was a need to get them into perspective
  2. Gissane saw the need for a burns unit to cope with the burn burden.  There was no plastics capability in Birmingham at the time
  3. Gissane recognised the enormous advantage of having a Medical Research Council Unit in the hospital to stimulate research
  4. Gissane had a unique understanding of rehabilitation after injury.  At the time it was a neglected field, he saw rehab as the only rational way to get people back to work
  5. Gissane recognised sooner or later the surgeon would have to go to the patient – as occurred in the war with a field amputation and the field surgical unit.  The Austin Motor Company presented BAH with a mobile surgical unit.  It was a brilliant idea, but premature as it needed the back up organisation with the local ambulance and police services which were not at that time available
  6. Gissane realised the growing potential for research into road traffic collisions especially with the increasing number of cars and motorways.  He made a major contribution to the medical literature for which he is remembered
  7. Although a hospital in isolation, Gissane appreciated the need for close cooperation and always had a second opinion available.  It was his wish to have the Acci relocated within the proximity of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and integrated in its services
  8. Gissane recognised the importance of cutting down on administration and administrative expenses