Tributes have been paid to an "exceptional" doctor who helped set up a pain clinic on the coast.

Dr William Notcutt died on Monday (May 31) at the James Paget hospital in Gorleston, where he had worked for 36 years, specialising in acute and chronic pain management, palliative care and teaching.

He was most well-known for setting up the hospital's pain clinic and also his work researching the benefits of medicinal cannabis.

%image(14382430, type="article-full", alt="Dr William Notcutt, who died on May 31, with his wife, Nov.")

Dr Notcutt was born in Ipswich in 1946. After graduating from school, he studied medicine at Birmingham University. From there, in the 1970s, his adventurous spirit took him to Lesotho, a country in southern Africa, where he volunteered as a flying doctor.

Later, he moved to Kingston, capital city of Jamaica, working at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

It was there he met his future wife, Nov, a nurse. They would go on to have three daughters, Tamara, Holly-Kim and Mischa.

%image(14382432, type="article-full", alt="Dr William Notcutt, who specialised in pain management, palliative care and teaching at the James Paget hospital, with his wife and three daughters.")

In 1982, after a brief stint living in Nottingham, the family moved to Gorleston, where Dr Notcutt began work as a consultant anaesthetist at the James Paget.

He developed the hospital's pain clinic and was involved in various research projects including the use of cannabis for pain relief, particularly for people with MS.

From 1997 he was also an honorary senior lecturer at the UEA.

%image(14382433, type="article-full", alt="Dr William Notcutt, who has died at the age of 73, with two of his daughters.")

While he part retired from clinical practice in 2014, he continued to support the James Paget team and was widely known and respected for his friendly smile, wisdom and breadth of experience.

James Paget Medical Director Dr Hazel Stuart said: “It’s so sad for the world to lose such a wonderful compassionate person, whose combination of expertise and calmness made him an exceptional doctor and such a fantastic colleague. We are thinking of his family at this time.”

%image(14382434, type="article-full", alt="Dr William Notcutt, who died on May 31, has been described by colleagues at the James Paget hospital as an "exceptional doctor" and a "wonderful compassionate person".")

Dr Notcutt also loved reading science-fiction and listening to music from all over the world.

His daughter Holly-Kim said: "He was very positive and glass half-full but also very philosophical and mindful. He was very open, very compassionate. No matter who you were, he would make time to listen to you."

He is survived by his wife, daughters, grandson Zavi and brother Geoff.