Janet Anderson: paediatrician who developed training in the UK and overseas

Janet Anderson’s retirement in 2007 was marked by an early day motion in the House of Commons. Signed by 14 members of parliament it cited 30 years of selfless service to the children of Wolverhampton, increasing the number of consultants in her department from four to 12, and her contributions to paediatric training in the UK and overseas.

In a BMJ Career Focus article on paediatrics eight years earlier, Anderson, who has died aged 81, said: “Children and their families need doctors with imagination, vision, leadership, and determination. The work is hard but rewarding.”

Former colleagues noted her ability to bring out those qualities in people she worked with. Vin Diwakar, medical director for national transformation and medical directorates for NHS England, said, “Without Janet I wouldn’t be where I am today. She not only influenced me as a clinician with her work ethic and approach to patients but spotted my potential as a clinical leader when I was a registrar working with her in Wolverhampton. She encouraged me to become the trainees’ rep to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and asked me to organise a regional training programme for trainees.”

In June 1999 Diwakar and Anderson …