In the 1980s the concept of keyhole surgery was just starting to cross the water from the US and Europe. In its early days it involved the surgeon looking down a telescope held with one hand, or by an assistant, while operating.
John, as a young consultant general surgeon, was intrigued by this new technology and was among the first to embrace it. (The relatively crude instrumentation of 40 years ago is now replaced by the telescopic view being transmitted to a large TV screen, and for some operations a robot controlled from a keyboard manipulates the instruments.)
Specialising in oesophageal and gastric cancers, John was a lead surgeon carrying out radical operations. “Knife, spoon and fork” surgery would involve long incisions and often the