Heartbeat: Wave goodbye to… Dr Bill Thomson

October 27, 2020

After a 49 year career within the NHS, of which 36 years have been spent as our Head of Physics and Nuclear Medicine we say goodbye to Dr Bill Thomson.

Taking time out of his busy schedule to speak to Heartbeat, Bill told us how his career began. “I graduated from Edinburgh University (also my home city) with a first class honours degree in Physics in 1971. Having enjoyed a summer job in medical physics, I decided to go to the University Hospital of Wales, which at the time was a brand new hospital about to open to patients.

“I was able to pursue a PhD using a new whole-body counter system, very accurately measuring radioactivity in patients. With a large haematology research department, I developed gamma spectra computer analysis techniques that led to routine and research studies of iron kinetics, blood loss, iron absorption, vitamin B12 absorption and total body potassium and electrolyte studies. I also developed a new technique for red cell volume measurement. Renal analysis was another area where I developed a new technique and presented on at conferences recently.”

In 1984, Bill joined our organisation and took on the head of department position. Together with Dr Harding, the consultant at the time, they carried out many investigations around radiation protection in nuclear medicine, an underdeveloped area. Some of this work was used in the 2002 national guidance notes and his interest in this work continues. He has provided updated regulations for the new guidance document due in 2021, and lectures on the national Endocrinologist ARSAC training course. His radiation protection interest continues, and he has developed a new model for dose estimation from radioactive contamination, and given invited presentations at three national conferences this year.

Perhaps one of Bill’s defining career moments has been his work on the krypton generator service which was just developing in 1984. “Over the years this has grown into the unique national service that it now is. It supplies the country with krypton gas generators, generators for lung ventilation imaging; a vital part of the V/Q study for pulmonary embolus (PE) diagnosis. Along with ensuring the continued development of the service, Bill has developed dosimetry models, and also other techniques for using krypton gas effectively.”

His interest in radioisotope measurements also led him to develop a filter system for the accurate measurement of I123 and In111. He had to overcome strong resistance from the National Physical Laboratory. But they now endorse its use and he helped write their guidance document on isotope calibrators. A company now markets these filters, calling them the Thomson copper filter.

Bill has a long history of professional involvement. He was on the Council of the Hospital Physicists Association in the late 1970s. He also represented them on the national Whitley Councils in the 80s, chairing the group for scientists. He was chair of the regional committee for physicist training in the late 1980s and was a national assessor through the 90s. Bill was a member of the national ARSAC committee for ten years from 2002, the national government body that regulates the administration of radiopharmaceuticals and certification of consultants. Bill was also an honorary senior lecturer at Birmingham University for 12 years from 2001 and ran the nuclear medicine syllabus of their Medical Physics MSc.

Bill told us how proud he is to have been a part of so many organisations over the years. “Professional involvement in all these groups has been such an honour for me. I’ve had the chance to pursue my passion and support individuals and groups along the way. One thing I look back on fondly is being awarded the Normal Veall medal from the British Nuclear Medicine Society in 2014 for an outstanding contribution to the science of nuclear medicine.”

Bill is pleased to have been part of such an active department. He has shared over 500 papers, presentations and posters at conferences and, it is something the team will continue to do after his retirement. Asked what he’ll be getting up to, he said he’d be looking into further developments of computer programmes, and playing classical guitar. He was hoping to spend more time with his grandchildren, but plans have been put on hold for now due to COVID-19.

“I have many interests. I was until COVID-19 hit, indoor climbing and playing racquetball every week. Despite a serious climbing fall in the Swiss Alps 10 years ago, I still love mountaineering and climbing, particularly in Europe and the UK, and I have a strong interest in photography. I have been up five 5000m unclimbed peaks in the Tien Shan range (Kyrgyzstan). I also love skiing and ski mountaineering but have moved over to hut-to-hut ski touring in Arctic Sweden and Norway, in the last few years going solo. In March this year, I had to dig a snow hole to survive the night as I was hit with a sudden big storm, with the temperature at -10C in a remote area between huts.”

From all of us at the Trust – thank you, Bill, and here’s to a very happy retirement.