A tribute to Mary Dodd CBE

The Manchester Adult CF Unit was set up by Mary and Professor Webb in 1980 in a small physiotherapy department in North Manchester. The need for continuing care in adulthood for children with CF meant that referrals were increasing rapidly in number. 

In 1994, the unit moved to Wythenshawe Hospital in the face of considerable opposition from North Manchester. Such was Mary’s dedication to CF that she promptly sold her house and moved with the unit to South Manchester. 

Mary was instrumental in raising £1.4 million for a dedicated building for CF care built at Wythenshawe Hospital in 1994, and in securing a further £8 million for a second CF unit that opened in 2009.

Throughout her career, Mary made substantial contributions in advancing quality of care for people with cystic fibrosis. She was recognised as an outstanding clinician and published over 50 peer-reviewed papers. Her seminal research made a real difference to the lives and survival of adults with CF. 

Her published research in exercise showed that domiciliary (home-based) exercise preserves lung function and should be part of therapy. Her collaborative work and publications on Burkholderia cepacia complex and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cross-infection changed the out-patient and in-patient segregation policies for our patients with CF. She was one of the first to describe and publish the little recognised prevalence of incontinence in women with cystic fibrosis and therapy came directly from this research. 

Mary had a national and international reputation for the practical application of oxygen therapy and nebuliser therapy. Her work on treatment adherence, treatment outcomes and quality of life provided invaluable information on the assessment and outcomes of CF clinical care. 

She was involved in the development and publication of multiple guidelines for CF care with the support of Cystic Fibrosis Trust. She was an educationalist of the highest calibre and Mary was regularly asked to speak as an expert at national and international meetings on CF.

Most of all, Mary was a people person. Her hands-on skills, analysis and resolution of any problem somebody was facing was second to none. Her kindness and personal approach to each person with CF made her much loved by everyone on the unit. 

In recognition of her multiple achievements, Mary was awarded the honour of a Doctor of Science by Manchester Metropolitan University for her lifetime work in cystic fibrosis. Mary was made a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists in 2001. In 2003, Mary was promoted to Consultant Physiotherapist, the first CF consultant physiotherapist to be appointed in the UK. In 2009, Mary was awarded a CBE for her dedication to CF care. 

Mary was a person with a great sense of humour and a real zest for life but she was also strong and resolute in the face of adversity. 

In her final months Mary was cared for lovingly by her children, Helen and Andrew.