Tributes paid to 'caring' third-generation Portsmouth GP Colin Arnold

‘Compassionate’ third-generation doctor Colin Arnold died peacefully in a nursing home on November 18 aged 87 following complications after a reaction to medication.

He leaves behind his wife Ann, who lives in Eastney, as well as two sons and six grandchildren.

Born and raised in Portsmouth, Colin studied medicine at Cambridge University after attending Portsmouth Grammar School.

He later joined his father, grandfather and great-uncle’s practice at Twyford Avenue, which then moved to Gladys Avenue, before a new surgery opened in Queens Road in Fratton.

Ann, 80, said: ‘He was very well liked and loved in the community by his patients. He was loved greatly by them and I’m sure there are many of his patients who remember him.

‘He used to deliver babies in people’s homes.’

Ann and Colin met in 1965 at a blind date arranged by friends, while Ann was still working in London. They married a year later and moved to Southsea, before moving to Drayton to raise their children.

She added: ‘I was desperately upset when he died. He was the most kind man.’

Colin became a practice partner with fellow Portsmouth Grammar School graduate, Colin Olford after reconnecting when his father was admitted to the Royal Portsmouth Hospital in the 1960s.

Together they worked at Gladys Avenue and then Queens Road for almost three decades.

Southsea resident Dr Olford, 80, said: ‘He was a very conscientious, very caring doctor who was meticulous in his approach to everything. He was well respected in his profession and served his area for a long long time.

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‘We had patients who could remember his grandfather going out to see patients in a pony and trap. And his father was delivering babies in Stamshaw during the war.’

Colin Arnold also served on the Area Health Authority, district management team and district health authority.

He retired as a GP in 1990.

No arrangements have been made for a funeral as a cause of death still has yet to be recorded by a coroner.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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