The development of microvascular surgery in Australia
Introduction
Participants
Beginnings
Developing links with academia and hospital medicine
A bevy of supporters
An ever-widening circle of contributors
Building research capacity
Nurturing relationships
Raising funds for research and development
The microsurgeon and the law
Winning community and corporate support
Leadership
The Institute and its style
Endnotes
Index
Search
Help
Contact us
Barry O'Callaghan: People usually regard lawyers as a necessary nuisance. So, on the one hand you can give the legal advice and leave it up to the client as to how he or she uses it. But the relationship I had with Bernard was such that [I might have said] 'This is the legal advice. But from a practical point of view, you know you’re going to have to live with the hospital. You know you’re going to have to work alongside these people. They need you, but you also need them. So we’ve got to work out a way that doesn’t keep us at loggerheads because that’s going to divert you from what you do best.’ So one of the roles of a senior lawyer is to give both sides of the issue and, I guess, calm down the enthusiasm a bit to get the right decision. Mind you, you could never calm down Bernard’s enthusiasm for long. (laughter)
Ann Westmore: And how would he respond to that sort of advice?
Barry O'Callaghan: I couldn’t and wouldn’t mention that in public. (laughter)
Laurie Muir: He responded very well to suggestions that would save him complications. For example, all [media] references were to the Hospital's Plastic Surgery Unit and the particular surgeon wasn’t mentioned. Maybe the rules have changed a bit now but the Foundation itself also publicised itself through these operations. So instead of Bernard’s name being used, which it probably should have been, it was either the St Vincent’s Unit or the Foundation that was referred to.
Barry O'Callaghan: They depersonalised it to an extent.
Sue McKay: I think if people saw the television interview with 'Chopper' Read[82] they would have seen him refer to a prominent microsurgeon who’s died now but who had a wonderful institute. He ['Chopper’] said this because Mr O’Brien had actually helped him when he was stabbed near the heart. He remembered that this man had done good for him.
Laurie Muir: We've come full circle, now, and the Institute is named after him and his name is not offending anyone.
Ann Westmore: Was the Foundation established principally as a way of raising funds?
Barry O'Callaghan: Tax deductions, in those days, death duty exemptions and stamp duty exemptions.
Ann Westmore: Could it not have been done through the [Hospital] Unit?
Laurie Muir: If you gave to a St Vincent's Unit, the Board of St Vincent’s could do whatever they felt was their first priority with the money. It’s also why we seemed to be competing for funds with St Vincent’s at times, which caused quite a bit of anguish and we had to constantly straighten that one out, didn’t we Phil? [83]
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Witness to the History of Australian Medicine |  |
© The University of Melbourne 2005-16
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