A RESPIRATORY consultant who has helped shape respiratory services both locally and nationally has retired after more than 30 years at Musgrove Park Hospital.

Dr Robert Stone joined Musgrove as a consultant respiratory physician in February 1995, having trained and worked at some of London's leading hospitals before choosing to move to Somerset with his family.

He trained at St Thomas' Hospital in London in 1977, and later completed a PhD at the National Heart and Lung Institute after deciding to pursue a career in respiratory medicine.

“I decided to specialise in respiratory medicine because it provides a broad mix of patient contact and basic science, which I like,” he said. “I relocated to the Westcountry with my family; a decision that was motivated by my love of the countryside and Somerset from family holidays years ago.”

Alongside caring for patients, Dr Stone has dedicated much of his career to improving services across the NHS.

“I’ve always had a passionate interest in service improvement across the NHS and I've spent a lot of time outside of my clinical work trying to make that happen,” he explained.

Over the years, Dr Stone has held a number of leadership roles including lead clinician for cancer services helping shape discussions around the development of the Beacon Centre and setting up the cancer registry.

He led the development of respiratory services within the Somerset Lung Centre while playing a key role in medical education at Musgrove; working alongside colleagues to establish what would become the trust's medical education department.

As chair of the British Thoracic Society's professional standards committee, Dr Stone helped develop a peer review system designed to improve respiratory services across the country. He later joined the Royal College of Physicians' clinical evaluation and effectiveness unit where he helped to develop the national COPD audit and was influential in shaping the national strategy for respiratory disease and services for patients with COPD.

Closer to home, he championed better integration of hospital and community services, leading initiatives that supported the early discharge and prevention of admission for patients with unstable COPD, developing the THREADS team, and the respiratory Hospital at Home service.

More recently, on behalf of NHS England, Dr Stone established the South West Severe Asthma Network to improve access to life-changing specialist treatment for patients with severe asthma. He said: “We created the South-West Severe Asthma Network from scratch to improve asthma services for patients across the region, and I’m very proud that it’s now considered one of the beacon networks in the country.”

Reflecting on his career as he retired on Wednesday (September 30), Dr Stone said: “Musgrove is a great place to work and I'm going to miss my friends and wonderful colleagues, but it's now time for a new era for me.

“It’s been a very hard decision to make but I think the time is right.

“Finally, I want to say a big thank you to everybody within the trust for putting up with me over the years!”