Patel was the child of Gujarati emigrants in Lindi, Tanzania, while it was under British rule. He was awarded his MBChB by St Andrews in 1964.

Improving maternal care

 Patel devoted most of his career to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, where he was made consultant physician in obstetrics in 1974. He specialised in high-risk pregnancies, premature labour, and obstetric epidemiology.

Patel has served as Honorary Secretary (1987–1992), Vice-President (1992–1995), and President (1995–1998) of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Informing policy in the House of Lords

 In 1999, Patel was granted a life peerage in the House of Lords, where he informs policy in science, medicine, and healthcare.

Patel has chaired the Lords Select Committees on Long-Term Sustainability of the NHS (2016–2017), Science and Technology (2017–2022), and Preterm Birth (2024).

His parliamentary addresses have touched on elevating women out of poverty, improving maternity services in Britain, and extending protections from racial discrimination to the NHS.

Patel received a knighthood in 1997. In 2009, he became the first Asian appointed to the Order of the Thistle, the highest chivalric honour in Scotland. Patel took over as Chancellor of University of Dundee from James Black in 2006, a position he occupied until 2017.

Narendra Patel’s commitment to improving obstetrics and maternal care had an impact far beyond St Andrews and Dundee. His career reveals how medical practice can directly inform health policy.