Margaret Ruth Redpath AO (born 1 April 1940) is a retired Australian surgeon and radiation oncologist. She worked as a palliative care pioneer in Australia and the United Kingdom. She has also been a senior priest in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

, particularly at

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Archbishop of Melbour ...

. Redpath was awarded the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

medal and awarded a Doctor of Medical Science (''honoris causa'') by the University of Melbourne.

Education

Redpath attended

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne , motto_translation = The law of God is the Lamp of Life , established = 1875 , type = Independent, single-sex, day and boarding, Christian school , denomination = Presbyterian , princip ...

PLC) and is named a "notable alumni" in their

List of Old Collegians of PLC Melbourne This is a List of Old Collegians of PLC Melbourne – known as "P.L.C Old Collegians" - of the Presbyterian Church school, Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne in Burwood, Victoria, Australia. In 2001, ''The Sun-Herald'' named Presbyter ...

. She graduated with an MBBS from the University of Melbourne in 1964.

Career

Medical career

In 1965, Redpath became a resident medical officer at the

Royal Melbourne Hospital The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), located in Parkville, Victoria, an inner suburb of Melbourne, is one of Australia's leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research. T ...

. In 1975 she became a consultant radiation oncologist at

St Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...

and the Hospital for Sick Children in London, where she learned from an innovator of the modern hospice movement,

Cicely Saunders Dame Cicely Mary Strode Saunders (22 June 1918 – 14 July 2005) was an English nurse, social worker, physician and writer. She is noted for her work in terminal care research and her role in the birth of the hospice movement, emphasising the i ...

, and the UK system of

palliative care Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wi ...

. In 1985, Redpath returned to Australia, which had a much less developed palliative care system at that time. She was medical director at Dandenong Palliative Care Service, Victoria (now South East Palliative Care), which she helped to found. She later worked at the

Monash Medical Centre Monash Medical Centre (MMC) is a teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia. It provides specialist tertiary-level healthcare to the Melbourne's south-east. Monash Medical Centre is part of Monash Health, the largest public health service in Vic ...

from 1990 to 1995 and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. In these roles, she "set about building a model of specialist and community based care to meet the complex and individual needs of the terminally ill". At the same time, Redpath was taking on wider leadership roles within palliative care and cancer care in Australia. Her roles included president of the Victorian Association of Hospice and Palliative Care (now Palliative Care Victoria) which she helped found, (1988-1992); president of the Australian Association of Hospice and Palliative Care (1992-1994); and president of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (1998-2005).

Ordained ministry

Redpath was ordained deacon and priest in 2007. She served her curacy at St Andrew's Brighton and, from 2008–09, was priest in charge of St Aidan's Carrum with St Barnabas' Seaford. From 2010-2018, she served at

, notably as acting

precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

(2012–13) and as

canon pastor A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

(2014–18).

Honours and awards

In 1994, Redpath, together with her husband, Bruce Redpath, was recognised with a Melbourne Achiever Award. On Australia Day 2003, Redpath was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for "For service to the community in the initiation and establishment of palliative care services in Australia, as an educator in the field of professional practice, and as an advocate for improved services". Redpath was awarded a Doctor of Medical Science (''honoris causa'') by the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health at the University of Melbourne.

References

External links

Cancer Council Victoria

"Redpath, Margaret Ruth (1940-)"
''Trove'', National Library of Australia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Redpath, Ruth 1940 births Living people People educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne 20th-century surgeons 21st-century surgeons Australian surgeons Women surgeons Australian oncologists Women oncologists Palliative care physicians Australian Anglican priests Officers of the Order of Australia University of Divinity alumni