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Dr Isaac Henry 'Harry' Gosset was appointed the first consultant paediatrician for Northampton General Hospital in 1947 1 ( figure 1 ). At the commencement of the National Health Service in 1948, his duties were extended to include Kettering, thereby encompassing all Northamptonshire general paediatric and neonatal care. 2
He was an early pioneer for the advancement of exchange transfusions, 3 which established 'an entrée for paediatricians into maternity hospitals'. 4 He invented the 'Gosset Icterometer', '...a strip of transparent Perspex...[on which] are painted five transverse yellow stripes...of different shades' and published in The Lancet 5 ( figure 2 ). This allowed a rough assessment of serum bilirubin, thus avoiding a heel prick blood test. He was candid about its limitations. 5 However, given the greater practical issues concerning blood sampling and analysis, the icterometer...