History
Hathaway Surgery was formed in 1990 when Dr Bill Henry, Dr Tony Wright, Dr Caroline Page and Dr Rosie Telford moved into the refurbished premises in New Road along with Dr Vicky Jennings who was a retained GP (similar to a back to work scheme for GPs).
Hathaway was chosen as a name for the surgery as the building was once a house occupied by the Hathaway family who owned the factory that manufactured milk and butter churns in the town. During the 19th Century Hathaway milk and butter churns were used throughout the British Empire and have been found in most areas of the world. The surgery still, very occasionally, gets letters requesting details of how to obtain spare parts for the butter churns. Until recently we were able to pass these onto the Hathaway family.
In October 1994 Dr Telford left and moved to Manchester and she was replaced by Dr Jamie Brosch.
In early 1995, due to the expanding number of patients Dr Tam Turek joined the practice.
In 1995/6, by developing the cellar, the surgery increased its number of consulting and treatment rooms.
During the second half of the 1990s the practice introduced the role of phlebotomists who were non-clinical staff trained to take blood. Their introduction freed doctors and registered nurses to concentrate their skills and training on diagnosing and treating patients. Since their introduction phlebotomists have been trained and qualified as Health Care Assistants (HCA) who are unregistered nurses capable of carrying out a wide range of procedures that were once performed by registered nurses. Their role is still increasing and whilst they are not permitted to give clinical advice, they can offer information and their role is invaluable to the practice.
We started to undertake Clinical Research in 1999. The benefit of this to some of our patients is quite considerable and often means that they are first to receive a fully tested new drug for conditions for which there are no other treatments.
In 2000 Dr Richard Newton joined the practice to further increase the number of doctors available to the increasing number of patients registered with the surgery. Dr Newton's stay was short-lived as he decided to take a post in Tasmania where he is still a GP and part time photographer (www.islandimaging.com/).
In 2001 Dr Newton was replaced by Dr Lorraine Jeffery whose interests in hospital ward and Day Centre work means that she is only in the surgery for a few sessions each week.
In February 2002 Dr Debbie Eaton joined the practice to further increase in the number of doctors available to the patients.
In March 2002 Dr Vicky Jennings formally joined the practice after being a retained GP for 8 years.
In December 2002 Dr Susi Gregson joined the practice as a replacement for Dr Carolyn Page who then retired in April 2003.
In October 2003 Dr Bill Henry retired. His temporary replacement was Dr Henrietta King who worked with the surgery until a permanent replacement could be found in July 2004 when Dr Claire Osmond joined the practice.
In the autumn of 2003 a temporary treatment room was placed in our car-park to further increase our facilities
2005 saw the first medical student visit the surgery as Dr Osmond has an interest in training GPs, and this is hopefully the first step to becoming an accredited training practice.
In the autumn of 2005 Dr Susi Gregson left to live in New Zealand.
In the autumn of 2006 Dr Sonia Munelli joined the practice as a "Retained GP". Sonia had previously been a partner in a busy London practice but recently moved down to Wilshire with her young family. Her husband is a GP in Malmesbury.
Dr Eaton's maternity leave was covered by Dr Terry Syer who has now agreed to stay on with us covering 5 sessions on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
A recent addition to the nurse team has been the appointment of Louise Stenner as the nurse manager replacing eslpeth McKee who retired in June 2007. The nurse team now consists of 11 plus 2 nurses who work within Clinical Research. Nurses now have more patient contacts each week than the doctors. Nurses currently triage the majority of patients requiring urgent (unplanned) care and, when we move into our new premises, they will see all patients requiring urgent care.
Our move into the new surgery in January 2007 has been a significant change to us. The extra space and facilities has enabled us to work differently and deliver improved services for our patients. We hope that we will also be able to extend the range of services that we offer, although this is currently awaiting the outcome of the Pathways for Change consultation process. Do keep an eye on our website for updated details for the new surgery.
Since our move to the surgery we have invested heavily in new staff and new technology. A great deal of this resource has been put into answering the telephones promptly and efficiently. we would like to hear your experience of whether these changes have made your experiences any beetr - can you now get through without too much delay?
Finally, as with any organisation who delivers services to the public, it is important that we receive feedback, both positive and negative. Problems do arise and we occasionally fail to meet our patient's expectations; when this happens we need to be told. We also need to know when the work we do is appreciated. While we all appreciate the cakes and tins of sweets that are bought in by grateful patients, a note to the staff or brief email is also welcome.
