"The Age" newspaper of 29 October records the
death of Dr Bill Orchard, who played a foundational and seminal role in the
establishment of a revitalised Psychiatry Unit and a Psychiatry Training
program at Prince Henry's, which in turn provided a fertile context for the
establishment of the Monash University Department of Psychological Medicine.
I witnessed the transformation of the Psychiatry Unit at
Prince Henry's from a traditional General Hospital , skeletal in structure,
under Dr Preston Guy Reynolds in 1963 to a comprehensive, innovative service
and training program which by the early 1970's had 11 Psychiatry Registrars,
some 12 consultant psychiatrists, and well staffed Psychology, Social work and
Occupational Therapy components. This became a model for the development of
Mental Health services in General Hospitals in the 1970s.
Dr Orchard was the driving force in this development. He was
appointed Honorary Psychiatrist, Head of Unit, in 1964, after having trained in
the United Kingdom and USA. He attracted a broad range of Honorary Psychiatrist
colleagues, many of whom had been trained in those countries. Although heavily
influenced by Psychoanalysis, their experience and approach was broad, as was
required in a training program. The appointment of Wallace Ironside as Monash
University Foundation Professor of Psychological Medicine in 1969 complemented
and extended the depth and breadth of the service and training program and a
joint Psychiatric Treatment Centre was established. It highlighted
Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry service to the numerous Medical and Surgical
Units, facilitating the consideration of psychological issues in all patients.
It produced psychiatrists and allied professionals who went on to alter the
shape of private and public Mental Health practice in Victoria. They included a
number of Professors of Psychiatry, including David Clarke, David Copolov,
David Kissane, Nicholas Keks, Jayashri Kulkarni and Graeme Smith. Others
occupied senior positions and were influential in the public sphere, as well as
in professional organisations in the Mental Health field.
Dr Orchard displayed enormous enthusiasm in promoting the
field of Mental Health and insisting on adequate funding for services and
training. He eagerly confronted those whom he felt were discriminating against
patients with mental health problems, and was not afraid of the repercussions
of his advocacy. He challenged politicians and administrators to think through
the logistics and consequences of the relocation and amalgamation of Prince
Henry's and Queen Victoria Hospitals to Clayton. The prominent position of the
Psychological Medicine building at the front of Monash Medical Centre is
testimony to this. The enclosed glass corridor connecting it to the main
hospital building is there because he insisted that "there be no
bare-headed distance between Psychiatry and the rest of Medicine at MMC".
Naming it after him would be an appropriate testimonial.
Dr Orchard was an inspiring and effective teacher and
clinical supervisor, frequently demonstrating his clinical skills to students
and trainees. He took a particular interest in the welfare of trainees, giving
wise counsel to many. They, and many others, owe a great debt to him for his
generous and formative contributions to the field.
