Hugh Lett

Sir Hugh Lett, 1st Baronet, (17 April 1876 – 19 July 1964) was a British surgeon with a special interest in urology who headed the London Hospital's genito-urinary department for many years.

He served on the council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England from 1927 to 1943 and was president from 1938 to 1940, following which he was created a Baronet in 1941. He was also appointed Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO) in 1947 for his services to the King Edward's Hospital Fund, of which he had been honorary secretary since 1941. During the Second World War he chaired the committee for the allocation of medical manpower. From 1946 to 1948 he was chairman of the British Medical Association during the creation of the National Health Service.

Early life and education Lett was born in Waddingham, Lincolnshire, the eldest of eight children of local general practitioner Richard Alfred Lett and his wife Bithiah (née Appleford). His younger sister, Phyllis, later became a famous contralto.

He was educated at Marlborough College and the University of Leeds and then trained as a doctor at the London Hospital from 1896. He returned to Leeds to graduate MBBCh in 1899 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) in 1902, after passing the MRCS and LRCP. and was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in January 1920, three years after being elected president of the Hunterian Society.

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