Citation for honorary membership of the Intensive Care Society

Prof Anthony Gordon

I was delighted to recommend Professor Anthony Gordon for the award of honorary membership of the Intensive Care Society. He is Chair in Anaesthesia and Critical Care at Imperial College and is a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at St Mary’s Hospital. He has been a member and friend of the Society for almost 30 years. He has promoted the Society throughout his career since being on the trainee committee of the Society through to being its Director of Research for 9 years. He has worked tirelessly to promote and develop UK critical research and has collaborated with the Society and its members to achieve that – promoting new investigators, recognising rising stars through to pump priming UK multicentre trials with Society funding. I would suggest though that his greatest achievement has been as UK Chief Investigator for the international REMAP-CAP ICU platform trial during the covid pandemic – this trial has saved countless lives in this country and across the world.

Dr Jeremy Bewley

Immediate past Chair

Intensive Care Society Research Division

Dr Gary Masterson

Dr Gary Masterson is a Consultant in Intensive Care in Liverpool. He has been a long-term supporter of the Intensive Care Society and has been a member for almost 30 years, first joining the Society in 1995.

After his appointment to Council in 2012, Gary held important roles in the Education and Training Committee, the Member Services Committee and the Patients & Relatives Committee. Gary was also Chair of the Standards, Safety & Quality Committee and Co-Chair of the Joint Professional Standards Committee before being elected President of the Society in 2016.

During his 2-year term of office from 2016 to 2018, Gary presided over a challenging time for the Society, a transitional phase during which Council focused on achieving corporate and financial stability for the Society. While steadying the ship, Gary set the Society’s course steadfastly towards becoming the values-driven, member-focused, independent organisation we are today. Gary saw multi-professional representation for all professions and collaboration with like-minded organisations as the guiding lights for the Society. It was Gary’s strong leadership, his calmness and determination, his sense of fairness and his good humour which steered the Society through turbulent waters.

Driving up standards has always been core to Gary’s approach in everything he does. During his term as President, Gary co-edited the seminal publication ‘Guidelines for the Provision of Intensive Care Services’ (GPICS) in 2016 which set the standards, for the first time, for the delivery of high-quality Intensive Care in the UK. As a Founder Member of NHS England’s Critical Care Clinical Reference Group, Gary then played a key role in developing the National Adult Critical Care Service Specification (D05) in 2018.

Recognising the high prevalence of stress and burnout within all professions working in Intensive Care Units, and realising the impact on recruitment, retention and well-being, Gary convened an expert team and led the development of the first ICU Staff Burnout Guidance in 2017.

One of Gary’s most important achievements was the publication in 2018 of ‘Care of the critically ill woman in childbirth’: collaborative guidance from the Intensive Care Society which established the principles of ‘enhanced’ maternal care, raising the level of care available to unwell women during pregnancy and childbirth.

During Gary’s Presidency, the UK’s annual flagship Intensive Care conference, the Intensive Care Society’s ‘State of the Art’ Congress, was re-imagined, re-constructed, re-energised and hugely expanded with a growing international and multi-professional delegate profile. Gary brought the Congress to his home city of Liverpool in 2017 and hosted Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal, who attended the Congress as Patron of the Society.

As well as his work in the Intensive Care Society, Gary has also held roles as Medical Lead for the Cheshire & Mersey Critical Care Network, Member of the Cheshire & Mersey Clinical Senate and Foundation Chair of the MEDUSA Injectable Medicines Guide Advisory Board.

Gary’s wisdom and experience as President of the Society put him in a strong position to guide and support colleagues both locally in Liverpool, regionally across Cheshire & Mersey, and nationally during the COVID pandemic.

Encourager. Supporter. Collaborator. Leader. Role model.

I commend Dr Gary Masterson for Honorary Membership of the Intensive Care Society.

Dr Stephen T Webb

Immediate Past President, Intensive Care Society

Dr Ganesh Suntharanlingam

The Intensive Care Society is awarding Honorary membership to our past President, Dr Ganesh Suntharalingam, an inspirational influencer, leader and clinician.

Ganesh graduated from Christ’s College Cambridge and was appointed as a Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust in August 1999. He was Clinical Director (2006–2014) for Critical Care, Theatres and Anaesthesia and Network Clinical Lead for North West London (2004–2017). During this time he has been extensively involved in service development and hospital design. His interest in humanising the hospital environment and providing the best facilities for patients has been realised through a number of project groups which have included building new theatres and an emergency department.

During Ganesh’s first year as Clinical Director he was involved in managing a medical emergency related to a trial drug, TGN1412. This catapulted him into untested territory where he demonstrated his natural ability by providing robust leadership and emergency planning skills in order to provide the best possible outcomes for patients and supporting the multi-professional team.

He has been an integral part of the Intensive Care Society leadership for more than a decade and was responsible for transforming the State of the Art Congress as Director in 2015–2018. He was elected Honorary Secretary (2015–2017) and President (2018–2020) where he influenced changes in the structure, governance and activity of the Society to ensure it provided more multi-professional representation, direction and vision for the future. His achievements are vast and have significantly impacted on patient outcomes, policy and national healthcare responsiveness. These include adapting CRITCON, an intensive care surge reporting system, during the pandemic; establishing and co-chairing the National Emergency Critical Care Committee; and being a core member of the DHSC national guidance group for clinical prioritisation and risk thresholds. He engaged actively with media internationally (including the New York Times) during the pandemic and was able to provide clear and measured messaging, which provided accurate and important public health updates.

The manner in which Ganesh provided effective critical care leadership of the Society and wider specialty during the pandemic was crucial to the response of our services. It was with great delight to hear that Ganesh was appointed an Officer of the British Empire, for services to the NHS especially during COVID in September 2020.

Beyond the immense output and achievements is a person that is a strong advocate for quality care and providing the best for patients and the staff. Ganesh is able to bring focus, clarity and decision making whilst ensuring he reads the room, is inclusive and never fails to address what is important to each person. He knows when it’s the right time to tell a funny story to lift your spirits and has a charm and exuberance that is infectious and brings people together to achieve a common goal. He is deserving of this accolade from the Intensive Care Society on behalf of everyone that has benefitted from his wisdom and leadership.

I conclude my citation for Ganesh with a quotation from personal feedback about him. ‘When the UK was up to its eyeballs, Ganesh was seemingly omnipresent and yet still made time to reply to individual ICU Leads across the UK – incredible’.

Dr Steve Mathieu

President of the Intensive Care Society