Bob Quick, a former senior trade union official and a passionate advocate of the NHS, has passed away at the age of 68. Quick made an early impact on the industry, leading a Confederation of Health Service Employees union campaign in support of a pay rise for nurses in 1974 while training as a nurse himself. Later, he became Cohse’s youngest-ever full-time regional official. In his 24 years with Cohse, Quick participated in all aspects of industrial relations. His work involved representing members in grievance procedures, pay negotiations, industrial disputes, misconduct hearings, and organising and training shop stewards.
After Cohse was absorbed by two other public sector unions to establish Unison, Quick stayed with the union and remained internationalist to the core. He went on to lead trade union education projects in countries like Bulgaria, Romania, and South Africa, and was recognized with a Cuban national medal for delivering medical aid during the US blockade. He also worked as an HR consultant with Bart’s trust in London after holding managerial positions across NHS trusts in Barnsley and Rotherham.
Quick’s father, Jim, was a leading activist in Cohse since its inception in 1946, and his mother, Teresa, was an Irish nurse. Thus, it was natural for Quick to become involved with the union at a young age. He served as a Labour councillor in Liverpool and spent time as chair of the library and arts committee in the early 1980s.
Following his departure from Unison in 1999, Quick served as the UK’s project manager for the Community Mental Health Managers Association before joining Derby College as a workplace learning consultant in 2000. Quick moved to West Yorkshire health authority to work as a learning development manager in 2002 before becoming deputy head for Yorkshire and Humber at the NHS University in 2003, which trained NHS staff. When the NHS University closed in 2005, he became a deputy director of HR in Barnsley, followed by an associate director of HR in Rotherham.
Quick’s love for the industry drew him back to the trade union movement. In 2014, he became a national officer for the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association, and in 2021, he became the London regional officer for the Society of Radiographers. He retired in 2022. Quick is survived by his third wife, Helen, and his eight grandchildren, Alice and Himself, Joe and Abigayle, Emma and Paul, his two daughters from his first marriage, and two children from his second marriage
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