On the 30th anniversary of the passing of Dr Henry Lautch we are taking a look into the person behind the name of one our buildings at Bushey Fields Hospital.
Dr Henry Lautch was born Kazimierz Henryk Lautsch in Poland, on 20 June 1925.
After moving to the UK, Henry married Elizabeth Bates in 1960 in Watford, and had two sons, Peter in 1962 and Richard in 1964. He became a British citizen in 1965, living in Wakefield at the time.
Henry would achieve many qualifications during his career; Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons and a Diploma in Pharmaceutical Medicine. He would work as a Senior Registrar in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Birmingham, and contributed to a number of studies.
In the latter part of his career, Dr Lautch worked at Burton Road Hospital in Dudley, and after the closure of this building, part of Bushey Fields hospital was renamed in his honour as the Henry Lautch Centre, the name which remains to this day. Tragically, Henry passed away shortly after his retirement, a month shy of his 70th birthday on 18 May, 1994.
Alison Geeson, Non-Executive Director at the Trust, and former mental health nurse reflected on her time working with Dr Henry Lautch.
“I didn’t think that psychiatrists actually wore ‘white coats’ but on my first meeting with Henry I was overwhelmed with his pristine and immaculate white coat.
In those early days of my career I was somewhat apprehensive. I had heard Dr Lautch being described as being stern, rather scary and direct! My experience was totally different and I found Henry to be kind and caring and someone who took a great interest in me and my learning.
I remember being in a ward round and being asked lots of questions about the patients progress and we all certainly did our homework before Henry’s ward rounds! Henry was all about the patients, and they would often share with me how wonderful he was, and how he had changed their lives with his care and treatment. Dr Henry Lautch was certainly the ‘talk of the ward’ by both patients and staff.