Robin Ling

Surgical career After graduating in medicine, Ling began training in orthopaedics in London. By 1961, he had completed training positions in Vancouver and Edinburgh, where, at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital, Edinburgh, he was appointed consultant.

The Exeter hip Ling's ambition was to create a hip replacement that could be secured to bony skeleton with acrylic bone cement. They proposed a tapered implant profile that would encourage the stem to stay firmly attached to the skeleton for a long period of time. and required just one assistant. The stem finally changed to a modular system. Ling, as well as Charnley before him, had in the 1980s, made provisional recommendations for a hip replacement registry, opposed by the department of health but later supported by the National Audit Office (United Kingdom) and NICE. Internationally, as well as in the UK, 30 years following the first implant, it was the most implanted cemented hip replacement. By the end of 2010, more than one million operations had been done.

Surgical positions Ling acted as president of the British Orthopaedic Research Society between 1979–80 and was president of the British Orthopaedic Association for 1986–7. He was vice-president of the European Orthopaedic Research Society 1989–1991, president of the British Hip Society 1991–93, and president of the International Hip Society 1997–98. whom he met at St Mary's hospital. They had two daughters. He was described as "generous with his time to all surgeons" and "warm and modest".

Ling's love of sailing began during his placement at Shawnighan Lake School on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It continued when his parents bought a classic yacht. After moving to the Dart estuary, South Devon, England, on retirement, Ling accomplished his lifelong aspiration of owning his own sailing boat, duly named Enfin.

He died on 9 October 2017 at the age of 90 years.