Tribute: Mark Lee

Clinical pharmacy has very sadly lost a truly talented and ever-popular figure. Mark graduated from De Montfort University in 1988 and, after a short period working for Boots, he started a hospital career at Wharfedale General Hospital in Otley, West Yorkshire in 1990. Having gained experience in a wide range of clinical areas and obtaining the clinical pharmacy diploma, Mark moved to Australia, spending nine months working at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. It was here that he first worked in renal medicine, which subsequently became his chosen career pathway.

On his return to the UK, in 1994, Mark was appointed to senior pharmacist for outpatient services at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds and in 1996 he became senior pharmacist for renal medicine. In 1999 he achieved promotion to clinical pharmacy team leader for various specialities, including renal medicine. In 2004, with a well-deserved reputation as an excellent renal pharmacist, he moved into the role of advanced clinical pharmacist for renal transplantation at St James’s, where he stayed until 2016.

From 2016 to 2018, Mark continued his role as a renal pharmacist at York Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, working as a prescribing pharmacist.

In the late 1990s Mark became an active member of the UK Renal Pharmacy Group (RPG) and in 1999 took up a position on the committee, which he held for six years. He was involved in many aspects of the RPG and was responsible for educating members from UK and abroad in the challenging aspects of managing renal transplant patients. He was an eminently approachable and cheerful figure at all RPG conferences — as a passionate Yorkshireman, he could always be counted on to have a pint in hand and a great number of stories to be told.

Mark had a great ability to combine excellent technical knowledge and skills with a keen interest in people and a fantastic sense of humour. This made him a joy to work with. His interest in people led him to know and understand his colleagues and patients in a way that meant a lot to those of us privileged to have known and worked with him.

His funeral was held on 1 July 2019 in Harrogate, and was attended by many friends and colleagues from hospital pharmacy and renal medicine. He is survived by his wife Sara, and sons Jasper and Joseph.