Elizabeth Greenhall, a consultant in public health who transformed family planning services in Oxfordshire, has died at the age of 83. Her groundbreaking work included the establishment of 'Bodyzone' clinics in schools, where pupils could access advice on health issues and contraception.
In 2000, she was awarded the David Bromham memorial award by the Faculty of Family Planning and Reproductive Healthcare, now the College of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, in recognition of her contributions.
Born in Birmingham to Hansi, an educational psychologist, and Helmut Reiner, who worked for Harris Brushes, Liz was the daughter of parents who fled Vienna in 1939 to escape persecution. Her mother was Jewish, and both parents were socialists.
She attended King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham, where she was head girl, and met her future husband, Richard Greenhall, then head boy of the corresponding boys' school. She studied medicine at Oxford University, where she met the author as a fellow student, and later at Westminster Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1968.
Liz and Richard married in 1969. After junior doctor posts in London and Bristol, they settled in Oxford, where Richard became a consultant neurologist. In 1978, after starting a family, Liz became a registrar in public health with Oxfordshire Health Authority before moving into general practice and then family planning. The couple restored an old cottage in the Welsh Marches, where they holidayed and welcomed friends.
After retiring in 2006, Liz volunteered for local refugee charities, mindful of her mother's early experiences. She also played the flute in a small musical group. In 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, she joined the Oxford University Results Liaison Team, advising students and colleges on contact tracing and self-isolation. True to her background, she recommended including condoms in support packages for students during lockdown. She was always calm, thoughtful, clear-eyed, warm, and wise.
Richard died in 2021. Liz is survived by their children, Owen, George, and Ruth, and six grandchildren.
