Sir Carrick Hey Robertson performed the first heart operation in New Zealand in 1927 and was a national pioneer of brain surgery.
Scottish-born Robertson was graduated in medicine from the University of London in 1902. From 1907 to 1912 Robertson was medical superintendent at Waihi Hospital. He then moved to Auckland where he set up in private practice and was appointed an honorary surgeon to Auckland Hospital
An outstanding operator of near flawless surgical technique, Robertson remained a general surgeon throughout his career. He gained a worldwide reputation for surgery for goitre, which was then a common complaint in New Zealand, and was a local pioneer of brain surgery. In 1927 he performed, with the help of Dr Casement Aickin, what was probably the first heart operation in New Zealand in an attempt to save the life of a patient, who had developed severe complications following an acute ear infection.
The patient survived the operation but succumbed within days. In his chosen field of surgery he was brilliant and innovative, advancing the techniques of standard operations, such as thyroid surgery, and was always ready to develop new procedures, as in brain and heart surgery. He was a superb surgical teacher and, as a consultant, his opinion was widely sought.’
In addition to his knighthood, Robertson was awarded the Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur.
Carrick Hay Robertson
Died 1963
Block J Row 2 Plot 024
