My father, Hugh Hardy, who has died aged 98, was a dedicated and much-loved medical general practitioner in Sussex.
He was born in Birmingham, the third of four children of Lionel, a gastroenterologist, and Elizabeth (nee Ritchie), a nurse. He attended Haileybury school in Hertfordshire and was 15 when the second world war broke out. By the winter of 1943, he was a lieutenant in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps – and heading to fight in southern Italy. After some traumatic experiences on the battlefield he was captured and spent just over a year as a prisoner of war. He was 21.
Like so many of his generation, Hugh’s war experiences probably did more than anything else to define him. He always believed his time as a PoW gave him a privileged insight into the human condition, which stood him in such good stead as a GP.
Hugh qualified in medicine at Oxford University in 1952 before completing his training at Middlesex hospital in London. He then applied for the role of junior partner at a GP practice in the village of Forest Row, East Sussex, on the edge of Ashdown Forest. He struck up an instant rapport with the doctors there, and he and his wife, Mary Rose (nee Gosling), whom he had married in 1952 after the pair had rekindled a childhood friendship, would make it their home for more than 40 years.
Tall and good-looking with an easy smile, he had a great capacity for friendship. He was in his element as a community doctor and became a prominent figure in the village, in time taking over as senior partner in the practice.
Professionally, his timing was perfect. He was just the right kind of GP during a golden age for the NHS, which allowed dedicated doctors to practise good community medicine for all, free at the point of delivery – just as intended. He loved his patients and they reciprocated.
Having had a somewhat strict upbringing, Hugh adopted a much more relaxed approach to family life. He broke with tradition when he and Mary Rose decided to send two of their children to the local Rudolf Steiner school – at the time viewed with suspicion by many in the village. In another break with orthodoxy, he did all he could to support and encourage the work of Anthony Rodway and his dedicated team of teachers at Tylehurst – a highly unusual but remarkable local school for children with behavioural and emotional issues.
Latterly, after their move to Henfield in West Sussex, he cared for Mary Rose after she developed dementia. He is survived by their four children, Tim, Mark, Cordelia and me, and five grandchildren.
