The medical community mourns the loss of Dr Stephen Dawson, a pioneering urologist who played a crucial role during the early days of the Aids crisis in London and went on to establish the UK's first fully integrated sexual health service.
Frontline During the Aids Crisis
Stephen Dawson, who has died from cancer at 78, began his medical career as the devastating Aids epidemic first emerged in the capital during the early 1980s. Born in London to Philip, a nuclear physicist at Harwell's Atomic Energy Research Establishment, and May, a housewife, Dawson was educated at King Alfred's school in Wantage before studying medicine at University College Hospital.
He qualified as a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in the late 1970s, perfectly positioning him to witness - and document - the rise of HIV-related opportunistic diseases at a time when treatment options were severely limited. Working across various genitourinary clinics throughout London, Dawson experienced what he later described as both clinically fascinating and emotionally challenging years.
Building a Revolutionary Service in Slough
In a move that characterised his commitment to patient care over professional prestige, Dawson made a significant career shift in 1988. He left his Aids medicine practice in London to become the first consultant in genitourinary medicine in east Berkshire, based at Upton Hospital in Slough.
When he arrived, the department was modest at best. "His department consisted of three part-time doctors and a nurse; there was no HIV care at all," he recalled of those early days. Over the next 28 years, until his retirement in 2016, Dawson oversaw an extraordinary transformation.
Under his leadership, the service grew into the first fully integrated sexual health service in the UK, providing holistic treatment across all medical disciplines. This innovative model proved so successful that it was subsequently adopted by other primary care trusts across the country.
A Renaissance Man Beyond Medicine
Despite being a consummate medical professional, Dawson cultivated diverse interests away from his clinical work. In his late 60s, he took up screenwriting, with three of his scripts being produced as short films that screened at festivals across Europe and the United States.
Friends noted his movie star good looks, though Dawson himself seemed completely unaware of this. At the time of his illness last year, he was planning a fourth, feature-length film.
He also achieved recognition as a painter, specialising in acrylic portraits. Though he cheerfully acknowledged that "Most people dislike my paintings," this modest assessment wasn't shared by judges of the 2016 BP Portrait Awards, where one of his works reached the competition's final round.
Even during his final days in a London hospital bed, Dawson continued to create art, sketching visitors on a graphics tablet balanced on his knees. The resulting brightly coloured works showed a distant resemblance to pieces by David Hockney.
After retiring from medicine in 2016, Dawson moved to Hastings in East Sussex, where he dedicated himself to painting, writing, and solving crosswords - typically reaching the final of the Times crossword championship.
He was predeceased by his brother, Geoffrey, and is survived by his partner, Dimitry Kalinin. Dawson's legacy extends far beyond his medical innovations, remembered as a true Renaissance man whose curiosity and creativity enriched every field he touched.
