1959-2025

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Nicola Davey, née Barker, known to all her friends as Nikki, passed away on Tuesday 8 July 2025 following a short battle against aggressive lung cancer.

Nikki qualified from the Royal Dental Hospital (RDH) in 1981, where she was a prominent member of the student revue team of that year.

After a short spell as a house surgeon at RDH, she entered general practice in Hertfordshire, first as an associate in David Lester's practice and then in partnership with Alison Crozier in their own practice in Buntingford where she worked until 2013. Following the sale of the practice, Nikki worked part-time until 2020 helping a number of colleagues and also in the prison service at HMP Bovingdon whilst nursing and supporting her husband Alan in his battle with motor neurone disease (MND). Alan passed in 2016 and Nikki entered the political debate around assisted dying by giving personal evidence to select committees on behalf of the MND Association.

Nikki was a longstanding member of her LDC, initially joining the East and North Herts LDC and eventually rising to chair the merged Herts LDC from 2007-2009. Amongst her other achievements, Nikki helped Margaret Seward set up Women in Dentistry as well as being a founder member of the Young Dentists section of the Middlesex and Herts (M&H) Branch of the British Dental Association (BDA). She was recognised by LDC Conference in 2016 with an Unsung Hero of the Dental Profession award.

Nikki was a stalwart supporter of the M&H Branch, being the current president of the branch at the time of her passing, and had been looking forward to her installation trip to be held in Riga, Latvia in March 2026.

Nikki was a forthright and loyal friend with a sharp and wicked sense of humour, a skilled general practitioner ready to help anyone in any way she could; she will be sadly missed. She is survived by her children Helena and Francis and two granddaughters.

Jonathan Randall