Mike Goggin was a consultant physician and nephrologist in Canterbury. He was born in April 1934 into a medical background. His father was a general practitioner in Doncaster who had also trained as a dentist and anaesthetist, perhaps an indication of things to come for the young Mike Goggin. He was educated under the Jesuits at Mount St Mary’s College on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire/South Yorkshire borders before entering medical school at St Mary’s Hospital London in 1953. He graduated MB BS in 1958 and worked at the Royal Canadian Hospital in Taplow, then initially training as a GP in Lambourn, ministering to the needs of (among others) the jockey Lester Piggott. After 4 years he switched back to hospital medicine, as Medical Registrar at Mount Vernon Hospital (1964–1966); Cardiac Registrar at Harefield Hospital (1966–1968); and Registrar and Lecturer at the Institute of Urology and Nephrology (1968–1971). In 1971 he was appointed as Consultant Nephrologist at the Alan Squirrell Artificial Kidney Unit at the Kent and Canterbury Hospital, eventually retiring in April 1995. The unit had come into being initially through charitable donations in memory of a local police sergeant which led to the creation of the Alan Squirrell Artificial Kidney Trust in 1967, something that became an integral part of the rest of his life.
He had a love of computers and data and was a leader among a pioneering group of enthusiasts who recognised the potential for computing to support clinical care. He published some of the earliest papers on the use of computers (or programmable devices) in healthcare and this was his area of greatest research interest. He was a leading light in the British Renal Computing Group, which in the 1980s lead the way in developing the tools and principles which made renal medicine the leading clinical specialty in UK computer-supported care. His personal account is available on the Renal Association website.
In the early years of the renal unit at Canterbury he embraced home haemodialysis but also established some of the first minimal care units in the country, effectively satellite dialysis units staffed and run by healthcare assistants and supported by local GPs. After the renal unit at Canterbury was firmly established he continued to work tirelessly to raise money for the Alan Squirrel charity, even continuing throughout his retirement and serving as one of the charity’s trustees until his death. Largely through his efforts the charity continued to thrive down the years. It has supported development of satellite dialysis units in Kent and continues to support the Kent Kidney Patients’ Association and kidney research in Kent, something the charity has done for decades. He retained his abiding interest in research in retirement, serving on a number of ethics committees and continuing to serve as Vice-Chair of the NRES Committee London.
Following his retirement Mike devoted himself to family life watching his eleven grandchildren blossom and grow into adult life. In holidays he either espoused his Yorkshire roots, enjoyed a number of cruises with his wife whilst working as ship’s doctor, or entertained the family in his villa in Spain, where predictably he had become a member of the local management committee.
He is survived by his second wife Cyn, his daughter, two sons and three stepsons.
