Professor Sean Hughes

Professor Sean Patrick Francis Hughes: 2 December 1941 – 4 May 2025

Longstanding RSM Fellow, renowned orthopaedic surgeon and Past-President of the RSM History of Medicine Society, Professor Sean Hughes, has died of lung cancer at the age of 83.

Professor Sean Patrick Francis Hughes: 2 December 1941 – 4 May 2025

Professor Hughes was well known to many RSM members having joined in 1972, and remaining engaged and active within the professional and academic communities until shortly before his death. Six months before his death, Hughes attended the Sarah Hughes Trust Lecture at the RSM, delivered by Baroness Hale. Named in honour of his daughter, the journalist Sarah Hughes - who died of breast cancer - the annual lectureship recognises excellence in combating misinformation and promoting integrity in public discourse.

A leading figure in British orthopaedics whose intellect was matched by his deep compassion, Sean Hughes was Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery first at the University of Edinburgh (1979-1991) and later at Imperial College London (1991-2006). For several years he was Primary Editor of Bone and Joint Journal.

Throughout his career, he was known for combining clinical excellence with a profound sensitivity to the human aspects of medicine - qualities that also shaped his contributions as a respected medical historian.

Born in Farnham, Surrey, on 2 December 1941, Sean Hughes was educated at Downside School before reading medicine at the University of London, qualifying MB BS in 1966. He trained in orthopaedics at several of London’s leading hospitals, including the Middlesex and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. He achieved the FRCSEd in 1971, followed by the FRCSEng and FRCSI in 1972. Four years later he completed an MS at the University of London for pioneering research into blood flow in bone during a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Appointed Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Edinburgh in 1979, Hughes became a valued mentor and academic. In 1991, he returned to London to take up a professorship at Imperial College and serve as an honorary consultant with Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust. At Imperial, he also held senior leadership roles, including Chief of Service for Orthopaedics and Trauma and Clinical Director for Surgery and Anaesthetics.

Hughes’s research interests were wide-ranging, covering fracture healing, musculoskeletal infections, bone microcirculation, and the role of nitric oxide in joint disease. He held prominent positions within his field, serving as Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (1994-1997), President of the British Orthopaedic Research Society (1995-1997), and chair of the spinal health charity DISCS (2003-2017).

His passion for medical history, particularly the writings and life of John Keats, ran alongside his surgical career. He delivered numerous lectures on the subject, including the esteemed Keats Lecture at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 2017, and was President of the RSM History of Medicine Society from 2021 to 2022.

Alongside his work with the Sarah Hughes Trust and as a Section President, Professor Hughes was a passionate co-organiser of the RSM's History of Medicine Book Club, held regularly in the Society's Heritage Centre, where his book reviews were a highlight for many members and guests. At the time of his death, he had recently stepped down as President-Elect of the Osler Club of London and as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medical Biography.

Leaving behind a legacy of clinical and academic excellence, Professor Hughes is survived by his wife, Felicity, their daughter, son and five grandchildren.