A POPULAR GP has hung up his stethoscope for the last time after 30 years at Wickham Surgery.

Dr Jonathan Morris, 64, started at the surgery in August 1991 and he has witnessed a raft of changes since.

Dr Morris said: “I initially trained at St Barts in London. I then became an exhibition doctor and I went to the Arctic, Antarctica and Africa. When I came back, I trained in general practice in Winchester. I then spent a year in Australia as a mine doctor. 

“When I first joined Wickham Surgery, there was a lot of time spent on call. I was also the doctor for the Great Britain hockey team, attending 50 internationals, two World Cups, and two Commonwealth Games. 

“There have been massive changes in the last 30 years. The last 30 years has seen more changes than the previous 100 years. We started by using handwritten notes, but then everything was computerised. 

“I remember one Boxing Day, I had 26 call-outs. There was a lot of driving involved as the surgery covers a large area. The early years were such good fun because we had a lot more face-to-face appointments with patients. Over the years, the job did become more about box ticking, targets set were extremely high. 

“The improvements in treatment we have been able to provide have been very positive. The number of GPs now has flatlined. When I started, there were around 42,000 GPs, now there's around 27,000.”

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Dr Morris described the recent challenges faced during the Covid pandemic.

He said: “During Covid, we were on the frontline of care. We had no PPE at the start. I had to use one face mask for the first three weeks and patients had to make safety goggles. The support at the start was very bad. Then when vaccines came in, we were the ones giving them to people.”

Despite this, there were plenty of career highlights. He said: "One of my highlights is that you get to treat four generations of the same family. You get to know your patients so well. I set up the Fareham exercise prescription. We prescribe people free gym membership and exercise classes which have life-long health benefits. It's still going today. I have had a very supportive GP team. 

“I was on call on my last day. At the end of it, we had some drinks and laughs at the surgery. I am hoping to come back for a party in the new year.”

Dr Morris moved to live near Okehampton in Devon in 2020. In his retirement, he plans to spend time kayaking, walking and re-wilding a nearby field.