A landmark photography project
Photography by Katie O'Neill and Simone Smith
Professor Tony Redmond OBE is a world-leading specialist in emergency medicine, the founder of UK-Med, which coordinates the provision of health workers to international crises and appointed as the medical director of NHS Nightingale Hospital North West during the COVID-19 crisis.
Tony caring for an earthquake patient in Haiti
Tony established UK-Med in 1995 to facilitate the provision of health workers from across the UK to support hospitals in Sarajevo during the war in the former Yugoslavia. Since then, it has dispatched teams to a range of countries and crises, including Pakistan, Haiti, and the Philippines. It built on the work of the South Manchester Accident Rescue Team (SMART) – one of the first PreHospital Care Teams which Tony founded in Stockport in 1984 which quickly expanded to the whole of the north west. He is now Emeritus Professor of International Emergency Medicine at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI) at The University of Manchester, which he co-founded in 2008.
Tony coordinated the NHS response to the Ebola epidemic in 2014. Experience and knowledge acquired during this crisis was applied to tackling the Covid-19 pandemic and led to him being appointed medical director of the
FRONTLINE - cover photo by Katie O'Neill (Greater Mancunians)
NHS Nightingale Hospital North West, the city’s temporary hospital located in the Manchester Central conference venue. It was here where we photographed Tony for the project.
In 2021, Tony published: 'FRONTLINE: Saving Lives in War, Disaster and Disease' to great acclaim. The book's synopsis reads: 'Tony Redmond is one of the few truly good people you will ever meet. His is a story of tireless hard work and astonishing bravery across wars, refugee crises, air crashes, earthquakes, typhoons, volcanoes, and disease outbreaks for over thirty years. Featuring stories of hope and redemption, as well as untold suffering and mismanagement, this unique account could only have been written one who has for decades performed incredible feats of altruism.'
Tony & the South Manchester Accident & Rescue Team (SMART)
Tony was born in North Manchester in 1951 and raised in Failsworth. He attended Cardinal Langley Grammar School in Middleton before graduating in Medicine at Manchester University. He subsequently trained in Accident and Emergency medicine and was appointed as a Lecturer in his specialist subject at Manchester University in 1979.
Between 1977 and 1988, Tony practiced at many of the city’s hospitals: Withington (psychiatric research), Hope Hospital, Salford (trauma/A&E training), Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport (A&E consultant) and University Hospital, Wythenshawe (consultant, emergency medicine).
He has subsequently been involved in international emergency humanitarian assistance for over 30 years, organising and leading medical support to natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes in Armenia, Iran, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Haiti, Volcanic eruption and Cholera outbreak in Cape Verde) major incidents (e.g. Lockerbie Air Disaster, UN Air Crash Kosovo), conflicts (eg Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone) and complex emergencies throughout the world.
Tony stood down as Chair of UK-Med in 2022.
THE SHOOT: NHS Nightingale Hospital, Manchester
The city’s temporary hospital located in the Manchester Central conference complex. The NHS' response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Student reflection: Simone Smith
I was honoured to be given the opportunity to photograph someone as important as Tony Redmond and delighted to have access to photograph him in the NHS Nightingale Hospital. It was an incredible experience for my portfolio and such a pleasure to meet Tony.
Simone in action
Socially distanced photography... Katie, Tony and Simone
I managed to capture his confident and kind personality to the best of my ability. However, there were technical challenges, the different levels of light in each location meant I had to respond quickly, making me think more about what I was doing and what I was trying to achieve. Working alongside fellow photographer Katie gave me an insight into creative collaboration and idea sharing. Tony’s expertise has been very much in demand during this pandemic, so I would like to thank him for being patient and generous with his time."