My father, Michael Abrams, who has died aged 86, was a doctor and public health consultant and served as deputy chief medical officer in the Department of Health during the 1980s. He chaired the expert advisory group on Aids and handled the impact planning for the UK following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
He was a great achiever and an excellent all-round athlete, competing at Junior Wimbledon, as well as representing Birmingham University at squash.
He was born in Birmingham, the youngest of three children of Sam Abrams, a manufacturer of children’s clothing, and his wife, Ruhamah (nee Glieberman). He was educated at King Edward’s school and the city’s university, where he studied medicine.
After graduating in 1956, he held various positions at local hospitals before taking up a Rockefeller fellowship to work in the US for a year. On his return, in 1962, he became a research fellow at Guy’s hospital in London, where he pioneered the use of computing in the medical field, leading to several publications on the topic. He remained at Guy’s until 1975 and then went to the DoH. In 1985, he was appointed deputy chief medical officer.
Never one to boast, he preferred to let his achievements speak for themselves. His colleagues described him as brilliant, thoughtful and conscientious. He was known for his quiet but forceful style. When he left the DoH in 1992 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Thereafter, he became a non-executive director of Haringey Healthcare trust and then chair of the Whittington Hospital NHS Trust.
On his retirement from the Whittington in 2003, he worked as a public health consultant, advising overseas governments as well as the Council of Europe.
My father was a proud and observant Orthodox Jew who spent many hours at Muswell Hill synagogue in prayer, study, and voluntary communal and charitable activities. Together with my mother, Rosalind, he was the driving force behind the establishment of its children’s classes.
He adored games and puzzles, gardening, cats, chocolate and whisky. He was never happier than doing a cryptic crossword, sipping a single malt with a cat on his lap.
He is survived by his wife, Rosalind (nee Beckman), whom he married in 1962, his children, Rebecca, Jonathan, Jeremy and me, and his grandchildren, Cara, Joshua, Isabel and Jacob.
