Death of Dr William Henry Orchard - Obituary by Emeritus Professor Graeme Smith

"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.