Dr Elsie F. Farquharson took up her role as Resident Medical Officer in 1921 and was the first person to hold this position at Stannington. Unlike many of the visiting physicians and surgeons, such as Dr Allison and Mr Johnston, Farquharson would have lived at the sanatorium along with other resident staff such as the matron and nursing staff. As such she would have overseen the medical operation of the sanatorium and reported regularly to the management committee as well as being permanently on hand to deal with any emergencies.

Dr Farquharson would have been aware of all aspects of a child's time at Stannington and also provided regular advice to the sanatorium school as to the best care for the children during the day. Some cases highlight the additional issues she had to consider when treating the young patients of Stannington and the non-medical challenges she met. One such case was patient 83/67, a 5 year old boy admitted in 1935 with TB of the knee and eventually discharged as quiescent 5 years later in 1940. However, he was readmitted just over a year later at the age of 11 as patient 90/40 even though the disease wasn't active. The referring doctor comments, "no evidence of activity but to be readmitted after consulting with Dr Farquharson. The boy apparently deliberately breaks splint."

Whilst there were no signs of active disease it was still important that the boy wore his splint to allow the affected knee joint to recover properly and prevent any impairment to his walking. As such Dr Farquharson determined to keep him in for a further 6 months on this occasion until she could be sure that he would wear his splint when he was discharged.

Farquharson retired after 23 years' service and received a gift of 100 guineas from the Management Committee upon her retirement. She was succeeded by Dr J. Arnold Stobbs.

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