Dr David Stark Murray (14 July 1900 – 16 September 1977), son of Robert Murray MP was a

consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

pathologist Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

, writer, and president of the

Socialist Medical Association The Socialist Health Association (SHA, called the Socialist Medical Association before May 1981) is a socialist medical association based in the United Kingdom. It is affiliated to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party as a Socialist society (Lab ...

1951–70. He was active in campaigning for the establishment of the British

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

. He was born at 244 Main Street,

Barrhead Barrhead (, ) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-produ ...

, Scotland, and qualified in 1925 from Glasgow University. He came to London in 1927 as pathologist to the Lambeth Hospital under the Board of Guardians. He lived at 33 Murray Road,

Northwood, London Northwood is an area in the London Borough of Hillingdon, North West London, located northwest of Charing Cross. Northwood was part of the ancient parish of Ruislip, Middlesex. The area was situated on the historic Middlesex boundary with Hert ...

. Then followed appointments as Consulting Pathologist to the Royal Hospital Richmond and other hospitals in the area, Group Pathologist in the Emergency Medical Service (1939) at Kingston, Surrey and from 1948, under the NHS, Group Pathologist, Kingston Hospital until his retirement in 1965. He established laboratories at Richmond and Kingston and the central sterile supplies department at Kingston Hospital. He was Chairman of the Blood Transfusion Service of the South West Metropolitan Region of the NHS. He was president of the Surrey Branch of the

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

. In October 1962 he went to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

to talk to students about the fight for socialized medicine. For many years he edited the
Socialist Doctor
',
Medicine Today and Tomorrow
', and
Socialism and Health
'. He wrote innumerable articles on the health service under his own name and under pseudonyms, specially that of Irwin Brown.

Publications

* The Laboratory: its Place in the Modern World 1934 * Science Fights Death 1936 * Your Body: How it is Built and How it Works, London, Watts & Co., 1936 * Health for all V. Gollancz, 1942.
The Future Of Medicine
Penguin 1942
Your Health, Mr. Smith
1946
Now for Health
with L. C. J. McNae St Botolph Publishing 1946 * The anatomy of man and other animals, or, brothers under the skin 1951 * Medical Care and Family Security (with Karl Evang, and Walter Jay Lear) Prentice-Hall, 1963 * India—which Century? Gollancz, 1967
Why a National Health Service?
Pemberton Books 1971
Medical Care: Who gets the best service?
Fabian Society 1971 * Blueprint for Health Schocken Books, 1974 * Health for 1000 Million People: Health Care Today in China and Russia (with Joan Sohn-Rethel) Socialist Medical Association 1977

References

External links

Obituary

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Chicago DSA Audio Archive 1972
98% satisfied
Dr. Stark Murray; interviewed by Elsa Knight Thompson Pacifica Radio Archive 1962 {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, David Stark 1900 births 1977 deaths Scottish activists English pathologists National Health Service people 20th-century English medical doctors English health activists