Queen’s doctor Peter Fisher dies in cycling collision in London

Tributes have been paid to Dr Peter Fisher, one of the Queen’s doctors, who has died after being struck by a lorry while cycling in central London.

Sky News understands the Queen has been informed of the death of one of the Royal Family’s physicians.

Dr Gill Gaskin, medical director at University College London Hospitals, said: “We are all deeply shocked and saddened to learn that Dr Peter Fisher tragically died in a road traffic accident yesterday.

“Peter was director of research at UCLH’s Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, and physician to Her Majesty the Queen.

“Peter was a highly regarded colleague and friend of many at the RLHIM, where he worked for more than 35 years.”

Dr Fisher will be “greatly missed by his colleagues and patients alike”, she added.

The Met Police are appealing for possible witnesses after the fatal collision on High Holborn on Wednesday.

A spokesperson said: “Officers were called at approximately 9.30am on Wednesday 15 August to reports of a collision between a lorry and a cyclist on High Holborn.

“Police and the London Ambulance Service attended. The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.

“He has been named as 67-year-old Dr Peter Fisher, who lived in Highgate, London. His next of kin have been informed.

“The driver of the lorry stopped at the scene and is assisting police with their enquiries. No arrests have been made.”

Angie Bozianu, manager of the nearby Princess Louise pub, told the Evening Standard newspaper: “I heard a woman screaming and I looked out of the window and he was under the wheel.

“People tried to give him CPR and within five minutes the police and the ambulance were here.”

Dr Fisher was a specialist in homeopathy and other complementary medicines, integrated with conventional treatments for conditions such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

A biography on the UCLH website also described him as specialising in skin conditions, including eczema and psoriasis, as well as a wide range of general medical problems.

He chaired the World Health Organisation’s working group on homeopathy and was a member of the global body’s expert advisory panel.

High Holborn is less than a mile from UCLH’s Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK, the national cycling charity of which the Queen is patron, said: “It’s always a tragedy when anyone loses their life, especially when cycling, and we send our heartfelt condolences to Dr Fisher’s family at this extremely difficult time.

“Whilst lorries account for less than four per cent of miles driven in London, they are involved in a significant number of both pedestrian and cyclist fatalities, with lorries featuring in seven out of nine cyclist’s deaths in 2015.

“That’s why more needs to be done to separate cyclists from lorries in areas like Holborn, the scene of four cyclists’ deaths in the last five years, and to ensure that only the safest lorries, which eliminate vehicle blind spots, are allowed into London.”

The London Cycling Campaign are organising a protest next Monday after what it described as “the fourth cycling fatality in this small tangle of one-way streets and junctions in five years”.

A statement on the LCC website added: “This is not good enough. In a city which our mayor has promised will become a ‘byword for cycling’, the progress on delivering safe space for cycling has been unacceptably slow.”

:: Any witnesses or anyone with any information about the collision on High Holborn is asked to contact police on 0208 991 9555 or contact via Twitter @MetCC. Quote CAD 1899/15AUG

To give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

(c) Sky News 2018: Queen’s doctor Peter Fisher dies in cycling collision in London