Dr. Peter Kidner, the distinguished heart specialist who has died aged 51, was the senior cardiologist at St Mary's Hospital and honorary senior lecturer in cardiovascular medicine at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith.
He was intensely interested in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, and the resources he was able to raise from various sources, including his private patients, led to the establishment of the St Mary's Coronary Flow Trust to fund research on the subject.
Kidner was a dedicated and highly competent doctor, much respected by his patients, many of whom contributed to the funding of an extension of the Department of Cardiology at St Mary's Hospital, and to research to help reduce the toll of heart disease.
Peter Hewlett Kidner was born on Jan 18, 1938, and educated at Newport Grammar School, Pembroke College, Oxford, and King's College Hospital.
After junior posts at King's, the Whittington and Central Middlesex Hospitals, he became a registrar at the London Chest Hospital. This was followed by a senior registrarship in cardiology at King's College Hospital and then by his appointment in 1972 as consultant physician and cardiologist at St Mary's Hospital.
Kidner was also honorary consultant in cardiology at St Luke's Hospital for Anglican Clergy, and to St John's and St Elixzabeth's Hospital, where he treated Roman Catholic priests. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1979.
He was a self-contained and modest man, deeply involved in his work. In addition to his hospital commitments, he had a large private practice and was chief medical officer to the Friends Provident Life Office; honorary consultant to the Association of British Insurers; and cardiologist for Marks & Spencers staff. He worked under great pressure, but found some relaxation by working with his hands, largely by restoring his Northamptonshire house.
Kidner was the author of several papers on the prevention and treatment of arrhythmias following myocardial infarction. He is survived by his wife, Terry, a son and three daughters.
The Times July 1989