Letter From Dr Bailey

Dear Patients,

After much thought (and a small but persuasive nudge from my sanity, my inbox, and the calendar), I will be retiring from full-time NHS general practice from October this year. By the time I hang up my stethoscope—though I suspect it will continue to hang around my neck out of habit—I will have been a full-time NHS GP for 30 years.

It has been a complete privilege to look after you during that time. General practice is, at its heart, about people, and it has been the greatest professional honour to be trusted with your stories, your worries, your triumphs, and occasionally the more mysterious rashes. Looking after whole families—sometimes three generations at once—has been particularly rewarding. There is something very special about seeing continuity unfold over decades: newborns becoming parents themselves, and grandparents dispensing wisdom (and occasionally medical advice of their own).

Continuity of care has always mattered deeply to me. To know my patients and be known by them has been both the joy and the cornerstone of the job. I have been fortunate to work alongside an exceptional team—clinicians and administrative staff alike—whose skill, compassion and resilience never cease to impress me. General practice is very much a team endeavour, and I am entirely confident that you remain in safe, capable and caring hands. Despite the national GP recruitment problems, we have been very fortunate with the number and calibre of the doctors who have applied to join us. I am delighted to welcome Dr Kirsty Rankin who will take over my patient list. Dr Rankin is an experienced GP who is relocating from Surrey.

Over the years, the landscape of general practice has changed considerably. The workload has risen steadily—and then sharply—and expectations have risen even faster. Successive policy announcements have assured us that more is being delivered, more is being offered, and more is being made “accessible,” often without the rather mundane but essential ingredient of the resources to make it sustainable. It turns out that goodwill, while abundant, is not an infinite resource.

While I have always been happy to work hard (a prerequisite in this profession), there comes a point when enthusiasm alone cannot compensate for structural reality. Taking early retirement is, in part, my acknowledgement of that fact. I would rather step back with energy and good humour intact than remain long enough to lose either. I also prefer to leave while I still recognise my patients—and occasionally remember why I walked into the room.

That said, retirement may not mean complete disappearance. You may well still see me in the practice from time to time, helping out and attempting to remember how the computer system works. Old habits, it seems, die hard.

Thank you for your trust, your patience, your kindness, and for allowing me to share in your lives over these past 30 years. It has been an extraordinary journey, and I am deeply grateful.

With very best wishes for your future health and happiness.

Dr Simon Bailey