My father, Satya Chatterjee, who has died aged 90, was a distinguished chest physician and a prominent member of Manchester's Indian community. His commitment to public service and the NHS was total. He had an enormous capacity for hard work and was respected by patients and colleagues.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, many doctors who had qualified overseas came to the UK to staff the developing NHS. My father was instrumental in giving them a voice within the NHS through the Overseas Doctors Association. He was a founder member and president of the association, which became a national organisation with more than 60 divisions and acted as a liaison between the overseas doctors and the Department of Health and the General Medical Council. The association provided support for the doctors by ensuring they were treated fairly by the NHS and giving social and networking support. He visited many of the divisions throughout the country, often helping individuals with problems and difficulties.
Born in Patna, northern India, he graduated from medical college there and arrived in Britain in 1947. His medical career began in Birmingham, but it was in Manchester that he spent the majority of his professional life, at Baguley and Wythenshawe hospitals. He became a senior consultant specialising in respiratory diseases, established a lung function unit at Baguley hospital in the mid-50s and worked on trials for drugs to treat asthma. His career included membership of the Royal College of Physicians, fellowships of the royal colleges of London and Edinburgh, a Fulbright scholarship to study in the US and membership of the General Medical Council.
It was soon after moving to Birmingham that he met Enid, his wife for more than 64 years. His open-mindedness, fairness and effortless grasp of complex situations led to his heavy involvement in the community, including chairmanship of the North West Conciliation Committee for race relations and an advisory role to the Home Office group for race relations.
As a member of the Indian Association in Manchester, he was instrumental in establishing a centre for its activities, Gandhi Hall, now home to the Radha Krishna temple. He was a magistrate in Manchester and a prominent member of the Rotary Club in Wythenshawe. In 1972 he was made an OBE. He also returned to India to lecture at medical schools on respiratory practices and treatments.
Throughout his hectic life he remained at heart a family man and enjoyed nothing more than time at home and with friends.
He is survived by Enid; my sister, Petula, and brother, Nigel, and me; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.