Abstract
Born 15th June 1954, Edmonton
Died 28th March 2024, Ottawa
Jane Harper was the younger child of Burton, a Canadian Infantry officer, and Martha, a military nurse. From both, she inherited her love for Canada, integrity, drive and whimsy.
Jane graduated from McGill University, Montreal, and interned in New Zealand, after which she returned to Montreal and met a young British doctor, John Sprigge, They married in 1982 and moved to Merseyside where they raised their daughters. She trained in Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine and was eventually appointed as a Consultant at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
In every role she has taken on she has been a trail blazer for change, improvement and innovation. Energy and effort were always present in abundance. As Clinical Director she exercised first class judgement and managed our Critical Care Units during times of great difficulty, financial and otherwise. She expanded, united and nurtured the department through her leadership. All staff respected her for her loyalty, wisdom, resilience and perseverance. She was appointed to several Trust and regional educational roles including College Tutor for Anaesthesia and Co-ordinator for the highly successful Mersey School of Anaesthesia Final FRCA.
She was the inaugural Critical Care Network Medical Lead in Cheshire & Mersey and successfully developed collaborative thinking and working across the region. Today’s positive atmosphere in critical care medicine across Cheshire & Mersey is in no small measure a result of Jane’s efforts. She also chaired the National Networks Medical Leads Group.
Jane also served the Intensive Care Society. She was voted onto Council in 2006 and became the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Intensive Care Society. Her efforts in developing the journal have helped mould it into the high-profile publication it is today. She then joined the Society’s Executive Committee as Honorary Secretary. Once again, Jane’s drive to change and improve things came to the fore when she drove forward the Society’s constitutional change to become a multiprofessional organisation to better reflect the true working nature of our speciality.
She is sadly missed by her husband, John (himself a retired consultant anaesthetist), her daughters, Martha and Libby, and her three adored grandchildren, Freddie, Harper and Joshua. Her many friends on both sides of the Atlantic will miss her wit, company and conversation.