Dermod MacCarthy

Dermod de la Chevallerie MacCarthy FRCP (15 March 1911 – 12 July 1986) was a British paediatrician, notable for establishing a paediatric unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and conducting research into common disturbances in childhood and growth in deprived children. He was most notable for his work to encourage mothers to be with their children when in hospitals. in which he argued that the parent should nurse and feel responsible for the child patient's recovery. Before this movement, visiting by parents was usually restricted and sometimes forbidden in certain hospitals. MacCarthy helped facilitate the movement by making an influential film with James Robertson, the second in the series, called Going to hospital with mother. The film was filmed in the children's ward of Amersham Hospital.

In 1974, MacCarthy became president of the paediatric section of the Royal Society of Medicine, while also a consultant paediatrician to the Institute of Child Psychology in London. During 1975, he was elected president of the Confederation of European Societies of Paediatricians.