My father, Alberic Fiennes, who has died aged 75, was a pioneering surgeon. He championed the idea that severe obesity – far from being a “moral failing” – is a physiological and psychological disease requiring medical intervention.
From 1990 to 2007 he was a consultant surgeon and lecturer at St George’s hospital and medical school in Tooting, south London. He was committed to meticulous, patient-centric care and surgical innovation. An early convert to minimally invasive procedures that could reduce recovery time and pain, he was the first person in the UK to offer totally extraperitoneal (TEP) hernia repair as a day surgery.
Alberic ultimately specialised in weight-loss surgery and in 2000 founded the current bariatric service at St George’s hospital. In this field he worked alongside his wife, Louise (nee Bidlake), a nurse. He regularly appeared on radio and television to argue that severe obesity is a devastating disease compounded by stigma, and that sufferers cannot be cured by simple “willpower”. His innovative approach to treatment combined surgical intervention and continued psychological and dietetic assistance, which ongoing research supports.
In 2007 Alberic set up the bariatric unit at University College hospital, London, remaining its director until 2009. He was also president of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (2010-13) and later undertook medico-legal work as an expert witness.
He was born Alberic Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes in Bakewell, Derbyshire, the youngest of five children of Sir Maurice Fiennes, managing director of Davy and United Engineering Company, and Sylvia Finlay, the daughter of a British army officer. Alberic was educated at the Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz, Switzerland, where he learned to speak Swiss German, German, French, Italian and Romansh. He also became an expert skier and enjoyed this sport for life.
He started a degree in zoology at the University of Zurich before enrolling at St Bartholomew’s hospital medical college in London. Alberic graduated in 1976, with first class honours. During this time he also flew light aircraft with the RAF volunteer reserve. He passed the examinations for the Royal College of Surgeons in 1978, winning the Hallett prize as the highest-scoring candidate in the country.
As a lead surgeon during the 1988 Clapham Junction rail crash, he recognised the need for improved training in trauma care among surgeons in the UK and helped establish advanced trauma life support (ATLS) training for them.
Alberic was committed to lifelong care of his patients, who valued his clarity, focus and empathy. His colleagues described him as extremely trustworthy; sensitive to the needs of others; quick to provide help where needed; and an outstanding teacher to many surgeons in the UK.
He was a brilliant wordsmith and artist, a talented craftsman and a devoted Guardian reader. He supported the charity Freedom from Torture from 1996 until his death, and was passionate about community welfare and politics.
Alberic is survived by Louise, whom he married in 1985, his daughters, Emily and me, his grandson, William, and his sisters, Elizabeth, Maria and Henrietta.
