Orthopaedic surgeon, academic and author

Born: September 21 1942;

Died: April 20, 2017

PROFESSOR Gordon Waddell, who has died aged 74, was an orthopaedic surgeon, academic and author who became world renowned in the field of back pain research and was at the vanguard of the "back pain revolution", which transformed and hugely improved the way back pain was treated worldwide.

As a highly respected academic, his passion was the understanding of back pain and disability and how to reduce it. The prodigious and conclusive body of work he produced led to conventional treatments for back pain being re-evaluated, moving away from rest to staying active. He also played a central role in the development of the biopsychosocial model of medical care.

Professor Waddell’s diverse professional career included much writing on medical matters and his book, The Back Pain Revolution, is regarded internationally as a classic medical text. Similarly, The Back Book, an advice book for patients he co-authored, has been translated into more than 20 languages and has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide.

Since 1992 Professor Waddell had held four honorary professorships which, uniquely, were in Scotland, England and Wales and across four different disciplines: orthopaedics, osteopathy, disability research and behavioural medicine.

His death on April 20 brought high tributes from his peers, with

Professor Peter Croft, director of Primary Care Musculoskeletal Research Centre at Keele University, declaring: “Almost single-handedly he transformed the way we thought about and approached our patients with back pain, and he led our professional bodies to tear up the rule book in ways that have led to radically improved health care.

"The fact that he did this as an orthopaedic surgeon who had the courage to criticise the excesses of surgery, and that he communicated his ideas in legendary talks, made him unique and special among back pain experts."

Sir Michael Bond, former professor of psychological medicine at Glasgow University, also paid tribute to Professor Waddell's achievements, in particular to his work with Professor Chris Main, saying: “His name is amongst the greats in the world of the understanding and management of pain which he and Chris pioneered. Gordon’s drive and persistence together with his focus on detail

lay at the base of their success.”

Professor Waddell spent 25 years collaborating with fellow “revolutionaries” and international researchers but his primary career was as an orthopaedic surgeon. He worked from 1977 to 1995 as a full-time NHS consultant in the Western Infirmary and Gartnavel General Hospitals. His contribution to the Labour Government’s Health, Work and Wellbeing Strategy from 2005 to 2010 involved application of his principles of keeping patients moving where possible.

Professor Waddell co-authored a paper in 2006 which addressed the difficult question: Is Work Good for Your Health and Wellbeing? The work drew from analysis of the “psychosocial” origins of poor health as well as the physical.

He was awarded the CBE in 2003 for services to social policy and disability.

Professor Waddell was born and brought up in Bishopbriggs and attended Allan Glens school and the 175th Scouts were he started his lifelong hobby of hillwalking.

A passionate Scotsman, he had a great love for the land and the many

layers of Scottish history, particularly the Highlands. When an opportunity to acquire a derelict 250-year-old cottage in Glen Lochay near Killin arose in 1979, Professor Waddell took to the task of restoring the historic property with the same rigour and diligence he applied to his professional work. The cottage, Dalgirdy, was a labour of love, which he rebuilt almost single handedly, becoming a dab hand at dry stane walling and plumbing as he refurbished the family home in the country.

The cottage became a hub for Professor Waddell's many hillwalking expeditions, which led to his completion of all of Scotland’s 282 Munros, a pursuit which intensified after his retirement in 2009, later also completing all the Corbets.

Dalgirdy was also the central focus of Professor Waddell's most recent book, Highland Roots, a sprawling yet accessible social history of Scotland, which gave him as much satisfaction as the medical texts that received worldwide acclaim.

He requested that his ashes be scattered by the family on the hillside above the cottage, which, he said, would afford panaromic views of the valley below.

Professor Waddell took great enjoyment and pride from his frequent shared times with his seven grandchildren, Heather, Niamh, Ewan, Marco, Lucia, Anna and Andrew Gordon. He requested his hiking boots be placed on his coffin along with a single red rose as a symbol of his love and gratitude to wife of 50 years Sandra, who survives him. He is also survived by daughters Carol, Joyce and Hazel.