Dr Duraiswami Gaspar, known to his family, friends and colleagues as ‘Sammy’, died suddenly at his home in Birmingham on 10 December 2001. Born in Madras in 1934, he received his education in that city and graduated MBBS from Stanley Medical College in 1958 after a distinguished undergraduate career culminating in his being awarded a prize as ‘best outgoing student’. In early years he trained as a general physician with an interest in cardiology, and was awarded the MD degree by his College in 1963.

However, in 1968 Sammy decided to leave India and seek his fortunes in the UK. In that year he began his new career as a psychiatrist with an appointment as registrar at Moorhaven Hospital, Ivybridge, subsequently moving on to West Park Hospital, Epsom, and thence to St George's Hospital, Stafford, where he began his higher training. During this period he showed his typical resolution in studying for and gaining both the MRCP (England) and the DPM (England) qualifications. He came to Birmingham on the regional training scheme for senior registrars in 1971, training in the psychiatric department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Midland Nerve Hospital, and was appointed consultant psychiatrist at Hollymoor Hospital, Birmingham, in 1974. Within 2 years he agreed to take over the consultant responsibility for the care of those patients in the hospital who were suffering from dementia and for all referrals of dementia. With a small and dedicated team, a service with a strong orientation towards care in the community was developed. Thenceforth, his involvement with the speciality of old age psychiatry, as it in due course became, flourished so that in the space of a few years it became a first-class service based in Hollymoor Hospital and East Birmingham (now Heartlands) Hospital.

He had a special fondness for teaching, to which he devoted much of his time and energy. As a pioneer in his field in the West Midlands, he was instrumental in recruiting junior staff into old age psychiatry. He was the first to represent the West Midlands on the Faculty Executive in its early years, and during his tenure of office as chairman of the Regional Higher Training Sub-Committee, the West Midlands was one of the first regions in the country to set up a separate training scheme for old age psychiatry. His commitment during those years in office was instrumental in a strong foundation being laid for this scheme, and it is part of his legacy that his strength has endured. The major contribution he made to his speciality was recognised with his election to FRCPsych in 1985, and he was further rewarded with the granting of FRCP in 1995. He was a fine clinician and a caring, compassionate doctor. As a colleague he was strong in support, and a team player.

Following his retirement in 1999 he kept up his lifelong interest in politics and devoted his energies to creative writing, computer studies, travel and, above all, to the interests and wellbeing of his family. He was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather. His wife and their five children and two grandchildren survive him.