I am sad to report that Michael Varnam died peacefully at home on the evening of Saturday 29 April, having been unwell since January.

He was a wonderful, big hearted & larger than life character who, I imagine, has achieved more for the drug using fraternity of Nottingham than any other individual...

Michael devoted his life to the cause of improving health and his commitment was quite extraordinary. In the early part of his career he was committed to the quality of general practice as a provider: from ensuring that GPs are properly trained, through his efforts in establishing the Vocational Training Scheme, to ensuring that GPs provide a high quality service, through his championing of audit. He was instrumental in establishing fundamental changes to the way GP services are provided locally, to this day.

15 years ago he deliberately moved to practise in a deprived inner-city area of Nottingham, establishing the Windmill Practice which remains a beacon in terms of providing services to local patients, including the homeless and those with substance misuse problems. His public health training and outlook led him to believe that the only way to improve the health of the local population was through simultaneously tackling the determinants of health inequalities, and that it was his duty as a doctor to do so.

He promoted this approach through his national appointments, most recently as Vice Chair of the Health Development Agency,
and also local work encouraging joint working between agencies responsible for housing, health, probation and crime.

He always said that he would never retire from this work. True to form, on the morning of his death he addressed a national Christian medical conference on the topic of serving others…and received a standing ovation. His dignity and composure right up until the end shows the strength of Michael's character and his ability to be an example to us all. He will be sorely missed.

Stephen Willott
GP partner at the Windmill Practice & Drugs lead for the SDHIV Task Group

This is sad news and a lovely tribute Stephen. Though I did not know him well I had some contact with Michael over the past year and I saw him speak a few weeks ago in Nottingham ( he had been discharged from hospital that morning, but made sure he got to the event). What I took from his very moving talk was that he was someone who was very passionate about providing services for drug users,refused to accept inequality- and was not put off by any obsticles that he faced. I know he had provided drug treatment for many years, long before the drug strategy, and that he was instrumental in shaping services locally, as well as feeding into national events. This is a sad loss for the drugs field.

I read this with great sadness, my twin brother who died of aids in the early 90s was registered with the Windmill. I was always impressed by the care & concern he recieved there.