Charles Shaw (Weymouth 1958-63)

Charles Shaw, independent consultant for quality in health care (b 1944; q1969 MBBS, Middlesex; FFPH, FIHCM, ISQua; died on 12 December 2023.

Charles was born in London’s Drury Lane during the blitz and was brought up in a well-travelled and artistic family who subsequently moved to Sussex where he spent much of his childhood: later boarding at Mil Hill School.

He trained as a physician at the Middlesex Hospital where he became the fearsome editor of the Hospital Journal and a prolific writer for the famous Middlesex Christmas concert. After a variety of initial posts he spent six years as medical director of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital in Bermuda. It was on a brief trip home that he met Carolyn and so began a trans-Atlantic romance resulting in their marriage 18 months later in 1974 in the Wirral. For Charles, the clincher was that he finally had the key to completing The Times’ crossword, as Carolyn knew the answers to the Shakespeare clues. Carolyn joined Charles in Bermuda and for 49 years, they were two halves of a whole. 

It was in Bermuda Charles was exposed to many new ideas, such as hospital standards, medical bylaws, credentialing and clinical audits. As a result of his efforts, the hospital became the first international healthcare organisation to be accredited by the Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation. Charles became an inspector with CCHA in 1976 and his continuing interest in standards led him to receive a PhD in Standards in the UK National Health Service in 1986 from the University of Wales.

Very much an innovator and always challenging convention, as well as being a master of detail, he became an expert, with a worldwide reputation, in Quality Assurance, establishing systems to ensure that doctors and hospitals are properly trained, competent and regulated to ensure the best possible care for all patients. He became an advisor for WHO, World Bank, European Commission and for universities around the world, to aid health care in developing countries. His work covered more than 40, from the Balkans to the Eastern Mediterranean, central and southeast Asia, South Africa, India and many of the former Soviet states.

His book Towards Good Practice in Small Hospitals was published in 1988, and he edited and wrote numerous papers in professional journals, starting with a commissioned series on Medical Audit for the BMJ in 1980 and concluding with How Can Health Care Standards be Standardised, in 2015, also for the BMJ.

Charles was one of the founders in 1985 of the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua) and made a significant contribution to its direction and development over many years. He was a board member for 12 years and served as its treasurer and president (1995-97). His most visible and lasting contribution for the organisation was his promotion of a role for ISQua in international accreditation in health care.

Working as an international consultant since the turn of the century, his terms of reference (were usually about)  emphasised the need for technical interventions such as hospital accreditation, performance indicators, clinical audit or hospital standards, at provider level.

He was passionate about the significance of careful policy-making and implementation, plus the rigorous analysis and application of scientific evidence on clinical outcomes. And he was at pains to stress always the need for the involvement of local practitioners in the development of QA to ensure its effective implementation.

He was awarded fellowships in 1991 by both the Faculty of Public Health Medicine - Royal College of Physicians UK, and the Institute of Health Services Management UK.

Charles never actually retired but in his latter years he found time to widen his interests. He was chairman of the Houghton (West Sussex) Parish Meeting where, with customary persistence, he steered the village successfully to the approval of a much-needed footpath to the local railway station.

A devoted family man, he was a keen and skilful vegetable gardener, loved music, The Times’ crossword, and good food and wine, as well as pursuing his academic interest in research and analysis – of almost anything.

He is survived by Carolyn and their children, and two granddaughters.