Colchester GP and nurse couple retiring after four decades

After years of dedication and commitment, the couple are calling time on their proud medical careers.

Stuart, a partner in the Colchester Medical Practice, is retiring after 35 years as a GP at Castle Gardens Medical Centre, on East Hill.

Jacqueline, meanwhile, an advanced nurse practitioner for the Creffield Medical Group, is retiring on the same day, after 44 years of nursing in Colchester.

In total, the couple have dedicated a combined 84 years to the NHS.

Both finish on June 30 and, to complete a triple celebration as Jacqueline turns 60 on June 25.

The couple are proud of their stellar careers, helping and caring for generations of people across north Essex.

However, they feel the time is right to call it a day.

Stuart, 63, specialises in skin disease, minor surgery and joint injections and said: “Our retirement has been planned for about a year and comes at the perfect time.

“I’ve been lucky but it can’t go on forever.

“We’ve worked hard and the fact we’re finishing together makes it extra special.

“We’ve both done as much as we can.

“I’m proud of my career and have always tried to work in a certain way, by being personable, treating people kindly and doing my best.

“I’ve always tried to keep laughing and joking, to help patients when they might be on edge or uncomfortable.

“It’s harder now, because so much time is spent in the practice and there are far fewer home visits.

“I miss that but, overall, it’s been a real honour and pleasure helping so many people.

“I was there at the delivery of many of my patients and now they come in with their own children.

“It’s amazing to think that tens of thousands of people must know us, from our work in Colchester.”

Stuart, who has never missed a single day because of illness, has countless memories and stories.

“One night, I was going on a visit to Blackheath when it was cancelled by the child’s mother, so we turned off down Berechurch Hall Road,” he said.

“It was dark, but I thought I saw something on the opposite pavement.

“We turned round, went back and I found a man not breathing but with a faint pulse.

“I took a guess at opiate overdose and injected his arm vein with naloxolone from the emergency bag, at which point he immediately woke up and asked what I was doing.

“I discovered a year or two later that he joined my practice the following day.

“Another memorable incident was a lady’s small for dates pregnancy, when she was at about 28 weeks.

“I’d seen and examined her in surgery but, for a day or two, couldn’t overcome my concern for her, so visited her one evening and admitted her to hospital.

“She was successfully delivered by emergency caesarean section a few hours later with placental failure.”

Stuart also remembers an incident from the early 1990s, concerning a ten-month-old girl with Down’s Syndrome.

“She’d stopped developing in every way,” he said.

“We had weekly meetings with our attached health visitor and she told us how the little girl would sit and then throw herself forwards.

“It was typical of salaam attacks caused by infantile spasm, so I admitted her that day.

“Steroids rapidly settled her brain inflammation and she developed brilliantly after that and attended mainstream schools.

“Not all my work was successful or pleasant, of course.

“Several young patients have died of malignant melanoma, for instance.

“However, home visits enabled us to get to know our patients better, and many became friends of my family.”

Jacqueline feels similarly proud of her career, having started when she was a teenager.

Her journey includes 20 years working in Colchester hospitals, followed by 18 years at North Hill Surgery and Creffield Medical Group.

“It’s been very rewarding,” she said.

“There have been ups and downs and it’s been hard work, especially when our children were young and one of us was always on call. However, I wouldn’t change a thing and it’s been my whole working life, having started training as a nurse when I was 17.

“It’s a caring profession and we look after each other, to ensure we’re in a position to look after our patients.

“The NHS is a family and we stand by each other in times of difficulty, as has certainly been the case in the last year.”

As for everyone in the medical world, the pandemic has presented enormous challenges.

True to form, though, Stuart and Jacqueline, who live in Langham, have been at the heart of the response in Colchester.

Stuart has administered more than 3,000 Covid vaccinations while Jacqueline has mixed more than 10,000 doses since December.

Both plan to keep helping, even after retiring.

“I’ve enjoyed the sense of team spirit, knowing we’re doing our bit to help people,” she said.

“It’s been very rewarding and we feel a moral duty to continue.

“It’s important because the vaccine is helping so many people in so many ways.

“It’s also a nice feeling to take extra work off our colleagues’ shoulders.”

Stuart agrees.

“Covid has stretched us to the limit, but the combined strength of our surgeries has resulted in changes which were necessary to keep us and our patients as safe as possible,” he said.

“Most of our patients are much healthier than 35 years ago. There would average 15 heart attacks a year among our 5,200 patients in 1986. Now there may be one or two, annually.”

Stuart and Jacqueline have three children.

Eleanor is a surgical registrar, Edward a primary school teacher and tennis coach in Colchester and Alice a GP registrar.

Tennis is something that runs in the family and Stuart and Jacqueline, frequently joined by their children, regularly play in Colchester.

Aside from helping in the fight against Covid, the couple plan to spend more time on the court, holidaying and with their family.

“It’ll be nice to spend time with them, without having to constantly look at our watches and worry about needing to be somewhere else,” said Jacqueline.

“Absolutely,” added Stuart. “We’ll continue our injection work for a while yet.

“Although general practice is unable to diagnose or treat Covid, at least we’ve been able to help the NHS and people of Colchester. However, as far as my work as a GP goes, and having changed my computer password 136 times, it’s time Jacqueline and I logged off for the very last time.”