Appreciation – Timothy Rowland Morley (1939-2023)

I first met Mr Morley when he was on the interview board for an orthopaedic registrar job at King’s College Hospital in London in August 1980. I got the job. Morley was the spine consultant at King’s and his interest was in correcting spine deformity. He was a pioneer in his field, having designed the metalware used for straightening curved spines in those early days of surgical correction.

The Webb-Morley rods were in universal use for a couple of decades. He was a gifted surgeon who set the roadmap for others to follow, and clearly was not one to be constrained by limitations. To his understudies, he was an ideal tutor forthcoming with sharing his experience, but his biggest asset was his ways of communication, with his colleagues and with his patients.

In 1989, the local health authorities invited him to help expand the scoliosis service on the island, and there started a 25-year romance with Malta. He visited every April and November and many were privileged to be his patients and experienced his natural but unique way of interacting.

He was liked by the locals because here was the “English Professor” who made time to speak to them, share a joke and share their concerns, and...