Arkwright's lack of response in the surgery? (4)
I believe the answer is:
noah
'arkwright's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'lack of response in the surgery?' is the wordplay.
'lack of' becomes 'no' (eg no bread means a lack of bread).
'response in the surgery?' becomes 'ah' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'no'+'ah'='NOAH'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for noah that I've seen before include "Hebrew patriarch who survived the Flood" , "He built an ark" , "A host of animals" , "Ham's father" , "Old ship builder" .)