Dame Averil Olive Bradley, known professionally as Averil Mansfield, is a retired English vascular surgeon.
14 Facts About Averil Mansfield
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Averil Mansfield was a consultant surgeon at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, central London, from 1982 to 2002, and in 1993 she became the first British woman to be appointed a professor of surgery.
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Averil Mansfield's mother suffered deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism during her difficult birth, which later influenced Mansfield's specialism in her medical career.
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Averil Mansfield wanted to become a surgeon from the age of eight, after being inspired by a children's book about advances in surgery.
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Averil Mansfield was educated at Blackpool Collegiate School for Girls and went on to attend the University of Liverpool School of Medicine, gaining a Bachelor of Medicine in 1960.
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Averil Mansfield then moved to London in 1980 to work at Hillingdon Hospital.
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Averil Mansfield was an honorary senior lecturer at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, which merged with the Imperial College School of Medicine in 1988.
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Averil Mansfield remained at St Mary's for the rest of her career, while serving as an honorary consultant in paediatric and vascular surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
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In 1991, Averil Mansfield was the founding chairwoman of the RCS's Women in Surgical Training committee.
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Averil Mansfield was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1999 for services to surgery and women in medicine.
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Averil Mansfield founded Women in Surgery, a Royal College of Surgeons initiative to encourage more women to enter the field.
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Averil Mansfield was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to surgery and equality in medicine.
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Averil Mansfield married John William Paulton Bradley, known as Jack, a fellow surgeon, in 1987.
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On 18 October 2020 Averil Mansfield was interviewed as the castaway on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.