Edwina Jones (1947-2015)
It was with great sadness that we heard of the untimely death of Edwina Jones on 5th October last.
Edwina was, for many of us of a certain vintage, a well-known and respected figure in Radiotherapy
Physics and the IMPACT trade union.
She was synonymous with the Physics Service at St Luke’s Hospital for almost forty years. Entering
first, through the gates at Highfield Road at the tender age of 22 Edwina’s career spanned five
decades until her retirement in 2007. She was a unique character. Committed to her work and to
the profession of medical physics she was methodical and precise, clear thinking and consistent. To
her friends and close colleagues she was funny, engaging and loyal. Her respect was hard earned
and her friendship highly prized. Those who worked closely with her would say also that the phrase
‘not to suffer fools gladly’ could have been coined specifically for her. She was no respecter of status
or reputation and many a doctor, radiation therapist or starry eyed physicist fresh from college were
taught a lesson in humility and professionalism by Edwina that would remain with them for many
years to come.
In her early years Edwina was mentored by the then Chief Physicist John O’Connor of whom she
always spoke most fondly. She quickly immersed herself in radiotherapy treatment planning. In
those days the great workhorses of St Luke’s were the Deep X-ray units and she spent her days
manually calculating treatment times for opposed tangents, supraclavs and post axilla boosts. She
similarly worked in brachytherapy which was still delivered using Radium until the 1990’s. In her
later years Edwina would regale younger colleagues with tales and definitions of long forgotten
concepts such as applied dose, given dose and mg equivalent radium hours.
Following the arrival of the first Cobalt Units at St Luke’s, Edwina developed and adapted planning
techniques to account for beam modulation (wedges) and organ at risk avoidance (lead trays). With
the arrival of the first linear accelerators in 1982 she brought into clinical use the first computerised
treatment planning system (Theraplan). There are many tales of the treatment planning room which
Edwina inhabited as her office. Doctors, physicists and radiation therapists of a certain age recall
visiting the planning room with a mixture of trepidation and awe. Edwina at the time was a heavy
smoker and upon entering the room you made your way through thick clouds of blue smoke to the
far corner where an enormous device with many coloured buttons emerged. Edwina sitting regally
on her high backed swivel chair was pored over her calculations. Any interruption needed to be
precise, concise and relevant.
During the seventies and eighties Edwina forged close personal and professional bonds with her
colleagues in the Physics Department: Eric Feeney, David Murnaghan, Declan Malone, Paddy Mackie
and Dermott Howlett. She was fiercely protective of her colleagues and during these times through
her work in the union and in co-founding the Irish Hospital Physicists Association, worked tirelessly
to raise the profile of radiotherapy physics.
The late eighties and early nineties were a time of great uncertainty for St Luke’s. With the merger of
St Luke’s with St Anne’s, the lack of access to funds and severe staff shortages the future of St Luke’s
was in serious doubt. During these times Edwina found herself thrust into a leadership role. She
delivered with aplomb. Consistently defending the Physics Department she refused to take on more
work than was safely deliverable while constantly calling for more appropriate resources. Inspiring
great loyalty at the time Edwina successfully navigated some choppy waters before stepping back
with the appointment of Brendan McClean as Chief Physicist in 1995. Having led, Edwina also knew
how to follow, and provided invaluable experience and support to Brendan in developing and
integrating what was essentially a new department.
The last phase in Edwina’s career brought her into contact with a wide range of new treatment
technology and a host of new physics staff. Edwina embraced this change with great gusto. She
loved a quiet chat and would often be the person that younger physicists would seek out in
moments of frustration or annoyance. She loved a quiet pint and also at times a not so quiet pint.
She ran and delivered the TBI service and commissioned and brought into clinical service the first
stereotactic planning system in Ireland.
In her personal life Edwina loved travelling. Together with her sister Carys she toured the globe. No
back packer however she managed to find boutique hotels wherever she went. She would send
postcards back to the Physics Department detailing her experiences. Famously and in her own
inimitable style she once described the Sistine Chapel as cheap and tasteless! Quite astonishingly she
gave up smoking overnight in 1992 by sheer willpower. In her office the blue fog of smoke was
replaced with the pungent aroma of ripe cheeses. She would sometimes order them to be delivered
to SLH before she took them home. It was always pretty obvious when Edwina had a cheese
delivery.
Judging by the veritable flood of emails that have been circulating since news of her sudden and
untimely passing emerged Edwina is fondly remembered by physicists across the country, in the UK,
in Europe and in North America. Born in Liverpool of Welsh extraction Edwina like St Patrick before
her heard the call of the Irish and answered it. Not given to sentimentality or dewy eyed celtic
mysticism I hope Edwina will forgive me when I say of her
Ni feicfamid a leitheid ann aris.