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From Blunt Penknives to Jubilee medals - Barrie Davies |
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I’ve
always held the belief that there are two kinds of doctors, the academic
thinking types and those that enjoy getting their hands dirty. There is no doubt
that I was one of the latter types which is why the whole idea of pre hospital
medical care appealed to me. Having said that, I knew nothing about BASICS one
afternoon in June 1978 when I was travelling along the M50 on my way to visit my
parents in
What
the incident impressed on me most was that ambulance men in those days were
totally ill equipped and fundamentally untrained to perform tasks which even
many doctors were incapable of. Nye Bevan’s NHS had organised and cosseted GPs
and consultants in ivory towers, but he had forgotten about the accidents and
illnesses which, in 1977, were claiming around 8,000 lives a year – road and
industrial accidents and MIs which had the audacity to take place outside
A&E departments! It was at this point that I first learnt about the exploits
of a Ken Easton and his pre hospital emergency care team in
John
Murray, Dick Herbert, Reg Johnson, David Malcomson, Neil Jarvie and myself were
the original group that tried to put the thinking of a Wyre Forest Primary Care
Team (yes, we were the original primary care team in this area) forward to a
very cynical and suspecting consortium of GPs, Consultants and ambulance men.
Having said that there were also those, both professional and public, who
wholeheartedly supported the concept and, with their help and encouragement, the
fundraising efforts took off in February 1981. Our original timetable was that
we hoped to purchase enough medical and radio equipment to put one ‘flying
doctor’ on the road by April of that year. What happened was that the idea
appealed so much to the public of the Wyre Forest that money came flooding in
right from the start, and by the end of April six doctors were fully equipped!
I
can’t speak too highly of the fundraising team and the very generous response
from so many people. The Kidderminster Shuttle gave us the front page on many
occasions and local radio conducted many interviews. The end result was that the
Wyre Forest Flying Doctor Service took in some £100,000 over its 20 year
existence and was one of the best financed of many pre hospital care services in
the country. It also meant that we were one of the best equipped services and as
new medical and communication equipment became available and was of proven
benefit, it was added to the arsenal that we carried in our cars. Incidentally,
the original official name of the squad was ‘
The
service also supported sister organisations – the casualty department (God
rest its soul!), the local ambulance service and, more latterly, Heartstart
(citizen CPR) all received help in both financial and training terms from the
squad doctors. Similarly, we supported the birth of other immediate care schemes
in other parts of the country. GP trainees who worked for the squad over the
years and then moved on to more permanent positions in other parts of the
country, took with them a complete medical and communication kit to enable them
to start up quickly wherever they went.
It
is difficult to quote statistics because, although a report was completed for
each call-out, we never saw the need to log each time a bleep went off or when
we were turned back from an aborted call. Similarly, we didn’t enjoy being
asked by an eager public the emotive question ‘how many lives did you save
?’. Suffice it to say that over the 20 years we responded to between 5,000 and
6,000 calls of which, approximately 20% involved medical intervention not
available from ambulance personnel at the time. The calls we responded to were
so varied it would take many pages to itemise them. Naturally, road accidents
were the commonest and they varied from simple car shunts to major multiples
involving many injured. Cars hit by trains, cars driven into rivers, house
fires, industrial accidents, shootings, drownings, plane crashes, farm accidents
– the list could go on and on and included many calls to what should have been
GP problems but, for whatever reason, ended up in our laps. We never refused to
answer any calls but frequently resorted to advising the caller how it should
have been handled!!
In
the early 90s, extended training for ambulance men came into being and the squad
doctors were actively involved in their training right from the start. There is
no doubt whatsoever that the standard of training of the paramedics and the
equipment carried by modern ambulances is a very, very far cry from that very
first incident that I was involved with. It is certainly an enormous improvement
but I am probably looking into a tin of angry worms when I say that the UK
Paramedic is a very poor second best when compared to those in the
BASICS,
the British Association for Immediate Care was an integral part of the Wyre
Forest Flying Doctor Service right from its very start. Indeed, as it came to
its twilight years the name of the squad changed to ‘
From
a personal point of view I think the final death throes of the squad started
with an unfortunate comment made by a senior
Relationships
never really recovered from that point and ‘
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John died suddenly on 29th April 2003. His
career at York Street Practice in Stourport began in 1965, having previously
qualified from
One of his main interests was Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the presence of
As a colleague ,and friend, he was always entertaining company, having a wide
range of interests, apart from medcine, whether it be countryside matters, local
history or just local gossip.
As a partner he was always a reassuring presence possessed of sound common
sense.
He retired in 1998 having previously steered the practice through it's
enlargement into the adjacent York House in 1997. Unfortunately his
retirement was all too brief. He leaves a wife, Louise, and two Children
and three Grandchildren.
T.M.C
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In1969,
General
Practice in Kidderminster
had a good reputation amongst
I
joined Sam Wadsworth, John Russell, Geoff Campion and Peter Dutton in a practice
already nearly 100 years old. Sam and John had come to general practice after
war service and other practices in the town had similar senior figures. Jim
Price worked on the other side of
By early 1970, both Rod Summers and I were recruited to support the resident medical staff and, for me, this involved regular ward rounds and setting up a basic cardiology service. Technicians were recruited and trained and ECGs reported. More challenging was the setting up of a primitive coronary care unit in a side ward of the old A block (long since demolished just before it fell down.) Staff were trained in basic skills and we had some success with the defibrillator and even temporary pacing for heart block.
Over
the next few years there were rapid developments at the hospital after its
designation as a
Meanwhile
in primary care there were developments, particularly with regard to vocational
training. After a trainers’ course in 1973 we appointed our first trainee at
Fifteen
years ago we began to computerise and although our start was somewhat hesitant
the Practice now has a highly-competent team which has ensured real rewards in
organisation and patient care. In 1990 we joined the first wave of fundholding
practices and embarked on arguably the most controversial of the recent
reorganisations of the NHS. “Purchasing and providing” continued much longer
than expected after John Major’s surprise election victory but were swept away
with the change of power in 1997, to be replaced by --- well, purchasing and
providing. The PCT has a real challenge to ensure that primary care secures an
adequate share of resources. This must include investment in services to provide
care for patients as locally as possible. I believe that the model of
“Intermediate Care” which we have developed locally is an important
part of that.
For
Church Street Practice the biggest change followed the decision to build new
surgery premises under the cost rent scheme and we were grateful for the support
and encouragement at the FHSA of its Director, Clive Parr. We chose Roy
Singleton of Gould Singleton as an architect familiar with the “red book”
requirements and have remained fully satisfied with his design. The partners
made the rash decision to invest proceeds from the sale of the old building by
adding an additional storey to the new premises, a sale that took 10 years to
complete! We moved to David Corbet House, named after the founder of the
Practice, in February 1992. Georgian buildings have a quaint historical appeal
but it is impossible to contemplate providing modern primary care from such a
setting and the move was certainly made at the right time.
Looking
back on 34 years in