After 32 years practising as a GP of which 29 have been here at Parkfield Medical Centre, Dr Dain will be retiring from the practice on 31st December 2022. She has written the following message for all our patients and colleagues:
“After 29 years serving the Potters Bar community, and the many patients and families that I know well, I have finally taken the very difficult decision to retire as a partner in Parkfield. I have been here long enough to have first known some patients in utero and then later seen them become parents themselves, which is very special to me. I love the privilege and honour of caring for patients during some of the most difficult and also the most joyous times in their lives, and I will be very sad to leave both my patients and the Parkfield team which has been such a huge part of my life for so long.
It has been and remains for me – as I know it is for my colleagues for whom clinical caring is also a vocation – a joy to be able to be able help patients, often worried about a condition or symptoms, whether that’s by making a diagnosis, or by identifying a clinical path that will help, or by navigating the sometimes complex NHS system, or by managing their care, or by helping them to learn how manage their care. It’s very fulfilling to hear a patient say after we have finished our consultation, ‘I feel better now’.
I also still find the science of medicine fascinating. Almost every day, there is something unusual, perhaps something that presents surprisingly differently, or is rare. Sometimes examination and conversation with a patient – perhaps prompted by a subtle change in vocabulary that is unusual for a patient you know well – elicits some additional health issue, sometimes unexpected to the patient.
And I love working with all my colleagues; with those in many different clinical roles working as a team, with those in critical administration roles without whose committed support the show couldn’t go on and sharing ideas with our dedicated PPG volunteers. The COVID-19 vaccine programme, delivered mainly by primary care services, showed so clearly how much everyone, I think, values the opportunity to work together in primary care with an intense and shared purpose that, well resourced, can achieve so much beneficial difference.
Over my 36 years since qualifying as a doctor, a GP’s role has changed. All roles do and the professional challenges change presents can be part of feeling engaged. I will steer clear of the politics of the NHS – plenty of others seem to have that covered endlessly! – but we have also seen, particularly in the last decade, a growing call on the reducing resources in primary care.
After probably a few hundred thousand consultations, often of only 10 minutes in which to deal with potentially complex clinical issues, it’s realistically time to scale back. I will be taking a break for the first quarter of 2023, mostly travelling. After that, I hope to be able to offer some occasional sessions in Parkfield and perhaps further afield from time to time.
I will also be continuing with teaching of medical undergraduates to help develop the next generation of GPs. It’s my sincere hope that we will all see primary care in the UK flourish because I know so well how all my colleagues can help individual patients so much with their quality of life and, therefore, also the wider community of which they are part.”