I am writing to let you know that I will be retiring from The Hollies Medical Centre at the end of August 2020.
I have been at the practice since 1992, when I joined Dr. Cyril Greaves and Dr. June Smailes as their junior partner. The practice had been in the Greaves' family for three generations, and had moved from Cemetery Road to St Andrew’s Road the year before. It was a small practice with 3500 patients. I was the first doctor to work upstairs, and I was so aware of the St Andrew’s Church clock, and its chime, from my window!
At that time, we were on-call 24 hours a day, and I attended home births (the record was five in a weekend!). It has been a wonderful pleasure to witness these babies growing up and I have been privileged to be involved in the care of so many families in Nether Edge.
In the early years, I also worked at St Luke’s Hospice, where I became the Medical Director. Palliative care has remained a specialist interest throughout my career.
For me General Practice has encompassed the whole of life, generalist, family based care.
When I left St Luke’s, I became a GP Trainer. We have had so many superb doctors rotating through the practice, and I am really pleased that a number of our permanent team stayed on after training here. I have loved the teaching, and have appreciated the positive effect the young doctors have had on the practice.
The practice has expanded significantly, and we now have almost 10,000 patients on our list. Our fantastic practice team has grown, and we use every room in our updated building. I have appreciated the support of the wider primary care team, and our hospital colleagues.
I was made a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2013, in recognition of my work in the practice, the hospice, and as an educator. That was a proud day!
I have been very happy working at the Hollies for so many years. The COVID pandemic has meant that this year in the practice has been very different.
The practice has had to meet the challenge of adapting to remote working, and I am very grateful to our local network of practices, who have worked really well together.
Unfortunately, these changes have meant that I will not be able to see many of you before I retire, but I wish all of you, a happy and healthy future.
Dr Simon O'Connor
