Newman's first positions were in London at the
Royal Chest Hospital, Drury Lane Dispensary and the Fountain Hospital. He gained a Diploma in Public Health (DPH) in 1931 and a MD Cantab in 1933; his thesis, later published as an article, was on the thyroid and intellectual disability. He practised in public health, first as assistant medical officer of health in
Southampton and from 1933 in the same position to the
London County Council with responsibility for the
East End. He became deputy medical officer of health in
West Sussex in 1936 the same year he gained the
MRCP. In 1947 he emigrated to New Zealand where he became the medical officer of health for
Northland, based in
Whangārei. This brought him into conflict with
Dr George McCall Smith, the medical superintendent of the
Rawene Hospital in the
Hokianga, who demanded widespread closure of schools and shops. Newman resigned as medical officer of health in 1949 citing difficulties with the bureaucracy of government which hampered the work of the district health offices, the Official Secrets Act which prevented relevant information being used for the education of the public, and the lack of recognition in the public service of professional qualifications and experience. He returned to clinical medicine in 1950 as a registrar and then specialist at Green Lane Hospital in
Auckland. In 1952 he was appointed medical superintendent of
Cornwall Hospital which catered for obstetrics and gynaecology and geriatrics. In 1953 he became MRACP and was elected
FRACP in 1959. Summing up the state of geriatric care in New Zealand he advocated for geriatrics to care for the whole person rather than just treating disease, and for better services and facilities, such as geriatric annexes to general hospitals. He called for better prevention and management of incontinence in patients in hospitals and rest homes by modifying institutional routines to suit the patient. In 1961 he undertook an overseas tour to look at care of the elderly and to attend an international conference on geriatrics in San Francisco. Calling on the examples he had seen in Britain, Europe and the United States he firmly advocated for better housing and the importance of social contact for the elderly. In
Zürich,
Oslo,
London and
San Francisco he visited a number of clubs for older people which reduced social isolation. Newman believed that while New Zealand governments had addressed the needs of families with its state housing programme the needs of the elderly had been ignored by central and local government. He was not a whole-hearted advocate for retirement villages as they risked segregating the elderly. He wrote "It is time for a positive drive at the heart of the problem which is simply to help our older citizens to live where they belong, as sharers of the community they have helped to build." He believed that the best care of the elderly could be achieved by their living in the community in suitable housing, which would enable them to care for themselves. After his retirement he continued in various roles as medical officer to the Blood Transfusion Service and the Disabled Servicemen's Re-establishment League (known from 1974 as the Rehabilitation League). As well as writing for medical journals he wrote more broadly for the general public. From 1957 to 1969 he edited and wrote for the
New Zealand Family Doctor magazine, published by Wilson and Horton publishers of the
New Zealand Herald. His last column was published on the day of his funeral in 1983. In it he wrote that solving housing problems such as lowering the cost of mortgages, providing low-cost rental housing and promoting inner city areas for residential purposes would contribute more for the health of the community than building hospitals. Newman had a particular interest in medical history and published on the English physician
William Harvey, scientific hoaxes, early medical practice in New Zealand and
apothecary jars. His collection of apothecary jars is held by the Ernest and Marion Davis Library in Auckland. He was a founding member of the Auckland Medical Historical Society. He died in Auckland on 17 October 1983. == Personal life ==