SIXTY YEARS OLD COULSDON MEDICAL PRACTICE THEN AND NOW

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1 SIXTY YEARS OLD COULSDON MEDICAL PRACTICE THEN AND NOW Dr Kenneth Heber Dr Peter Boffa

2 Recently, on behalf of the practice Patient Participation Group, I visited Dr Kenneth Heber who as a young Doctor started the Old Coulsdson Medical Practice in I discovered Dr Heber s family history to be very interesting and probably quite unusual for its time. Dr Heber s paternal grandparents were from Germany and members of the Moravian Church. They actually met during a visit to England and having decided to make England their home, his grandfather opened a bakery and restaurant in the East End of London. Dr Heber s parents met each other at medical school. His mother belonged to an old English family whose origins can be traced back to the Domesday Book and she became the first woman to qualify as a Doctor at Bristol University. His father s studies were sponsored by the Moravian Church but in return he had to agree to spend 5 years working as a medical missionary. The family were sent to Ladakh, once an ancient Tibetan Kingdom and now part of India, where they subsequently remained for 13 years. On their return to England, during the 1920s, they moved to Lincolnshire. Then, in Dr Heber s words to make a better living, his father and uncle set up a practice in Caterham. Having decided to follow his parents into medicine Dr Heber went on to study at Guy s Hospital. Life for medical students in the 1940s was not quite as serious as I imagined. On one occasion Dr Heber s fellow students diagnosed him as having a life threatening condition and tried to have him admitted to a surgical ward as an emergency. However, the night sister, who is described by Dr Heber as having been a formidable figure, realised that the patient presented to her as suffering from a ruptured ectopic pregnancy was actually male and correctly blamed alcohol for his condition. Dr Heber was also involved in the abduction of Reggie the King s College mascot. Reggie, a metal lion, was taken on a journey through London to Guy s Hospital. King s College students gave chase and sadly as was often his fate, Reggie was damaged during the ensuing chaos. After qualifying in 1950, Dr Heber spent a year as a Houseman at Redhill Hospital. This was followed by two years national service, as a Doctor in the Army. According to Dr Heber it was hard for a doctor to find a job during the post war years and he subsequently joined his father s and uncle s practice as a junior partner. It must have been quite confusing for patients having three Dr

3 Heber s to choose from! He then decided to open his own practice and came to Old Coulsdon in Dr Heber, his wife and the first of their five children, moved into a semi-detached house at 278 Coulsdon Road. The dining room was made into the waiting room and the living room became his consulting room. After three months the practice had 25 patients and after a year there were 600 patients. Four years later Dr Heber s practice had 3500 patients. In 1955 Dr Heber bought the house next to the present Old Coulsdon Medical Practice. Initially the hall was used as the waiting room and at busy times patients sat on the stairs. The dining room became Dr Heber s consulting room. Mrs Heber remembers getting up early to cook breakfast for the children before patients started to arrive. The family dog often escaped when the front door was opened by patients. Mrs Heber would answer the telephone during the weekends and on one particular Sunday Dr Heber made 15 home visits. There were on average 60 home births per year and the practice was one of the first in the 1950s to have a dedicated ante-natal clinic. Unlike his father, who started work at 9.00am, Dr Heber started his surgery at 7.30am, which enabled business people to attend the surgery before going to work. A year later, Dr Heber extended the surgery. For a time there was a dentist, a Mr Baynon, and Dr Heber would give patients gas during dental procedures. Other Doctors joined the surgery including Dr Brian Heber, a cousin, who lived in the flat above Holmes Pharmacy. Many readers will remember Dr Gordon Smith who became a partner and took over the dentists' consulting room. In 1987 Dr Heber decided to retire and sold part of his land for the present surgery to be built. During the building work the surgery moved to a PortaKabin located in the Tudor Rose car park. During my visit we talked about many things. From drug trials Dr Heber had been involved in whilst in the Army even in the early 1950 s doctors were aware of the dangers of drug resistance to the Heber s beautiful garden at Court Avenue which I had visited when it was open to the public for charity. I had an incredibly interesting afternoon and a lovely tea made by Mrs Heber. Since Dr Heber began in practice the NHS has changed considerably. Advances in medicine are costly and as Dr Heber laughingly says we are living too long!

4 The practice that started in an ordinary house now has over 12,700 patients. They are currently dealt with by four partners, the most senior being Dr Boffa who joined Dr Heber in Dr Boffa initially worked at the practice under Dr Heber s mentorship as a locum. He recalls being in Dr Heber s lounge with Dr s Harriet Harvey and Gordon Smith and following a trial by sherry was duly appointed as successor to Dr Peter Posford. In 1987 Dr Mike Gallagher replaced Dr Heber. Dr Alison Slater took over from Dr Harvey and Dr Iain Cruickshank joined the surgery. The PortaKabin, used as a temporary practice during the building work, was often at a slant and the doctors had to request for it to be pumped up and levelled. Larger premises also meant an increased workload and more home visits. Dr Boffa s patient list has grown from 800 patients reaching Computerisation arrived and for a time the doctors worked with information on the computer database and the patient s handwritten files. Surgery opening hours were brought forward to 7.00am which remains popular for early risers and patients who commute to work. The practice also undertook ON CALL duties with calls after surgery hours being transferred to a deputising service. Patients were visited by a doctor but not necessarily one from their own practice. In the late 1990s Croydoc further revolutionised services and today patients can attend the Minor Injuries Units in Purley or New Addington and access out-of-hours advice and GP visits by ringing 111. Apart from Dr Boffa there are also three partners, Dr MacCallum, Dr Kelvin, and Dr Randle, three associate doctors, Dr Goss, Dr Hardie and Dr Thanan, a practice manager, an assistant practice manager, five practice nurses, a health care assistant, a phlebotomist, 3 administration staff, a prescription clerk and ten part-time receptionist staff. All those years ago patients may not have given much thought on how the health service was organised. Today we are often reminded that there is a budget and that it is limited. However, as patients we DO have a say and one way to be become involved to improve the quality of care we receive is by joining a Patient Participation Group.

5 The Old Coulsdon Medical Practice Patient Participation Group was formed in 2010 by a small group of patients and consists of the PPG Committee and the PPG Virtual Group. The Committee meets approximately every 6 weeks with a Doctor from the practice and the practice manager. Matters raised by patients and options for improving the services, are discussed. Tasks include producing the practice newsletter, arranging the annual patient survey and organising educational events. Past events have included presentations by consultants on specific subjects such as: Arthritis, Dementia, Diabetes, Hypertension and Parkinson s disease. The group is also in contact with local organisations, the voluntary sector and the Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group, which is responsible for buying health care services for the residents of Croydon. To be effective the Patient Participation Group Committee relies heavily on its Virtual Group. Members of the Virtual Group are, depending on their preference, contacted by or telephone and asked about their views on topical issues. New ideas or comments made by the Virtual Group members concerning the practice are always considered. The Old Coulsdon Medical Practice Patient Participation Group Committee needs to increase membership numbers of the Virtual Group. The only requirements are that applicants are a patient at the practice, aged 16 and over and willing to be contacted by the practice. To become a member of the Patient Participation Virtual Group, please your details to [email protected] or contact the PPG Chair on or the surgery between 1pm and 6pm, or speak to the receptionist. Why not make a difference. Everyone is welcome. A Patient Participation Group has to be diverse. If you do not have a lot of time or feel you are too shy to speak at meetings this is a way to be heard. Researched by KBSullivan and assisted by D.Bird Patient Participation Members

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