Director David to hang up his stethoscope after 35 years as a GP
York GP and Director of Internal & Corporate Affairs at Nimbuscare Dr David Hartley will be hanging up his stethoscope in June, 35 years after qualifying as a doctor.
Since 1988, Dr Hartley has worked in and around York as a GP – a career that has seen seven NHS reorganisations and many changes. He started out as a GP in a small traditional surgery called Haddock and Hartley Surgery on East Mount Road, before it merged with Peckitt Street Surgery in 2004 to become Jorvik Medical Practice. In 2014 a further merger with Gillygate practice formed Jorvik GIllygate Practice which continues to this day. Not only working as a GP, Dr Hartley spent time as a member of the Local Medical Committee and was involved in one of the first GP provider organisations, Ebor Clinical Services, set up in 2007.
His journey within General Practice saw him join Nimbuscare in 2020 as Medical Director, but he has continued to work on the front line. Dr Hartley rolled up his sleeves along with many other clinicians to work in the York Vaccination Centre during the pandemic.
He admits he has seen huge changes during his career.
“In my first practice at Haddock and Hartley I knew most people coming into the surgery. I did maternity care, although no home deliveries, contraception and minor surgery, in addition to all normal medical care. There was very little health promotion and no control of our referrals or data counting and targets for what we did with the patients. GPs and consultants met for lunch every few weeks and we all knew each other. We provided an open (walk in surgery) every morning and had capacity to bring a poorly person back in the afternoon to review. Out of Hours was provided by a York GP-run cooperative, so I did around three shifts and one overnight per month. Things are very different nowadays.
“I have a strong ethos of service and helping patients navigate through the NHS which can be bewildering and frightening. I do believe services should be run for local people and have worked with LMC for many years and now Nimbuscare to try and improve the services available to our population.
“A positive aspect of the recent pandemic is that barriers between different organisations came down and everyone worked to deliver the vaccination program and help with the initially large number of seriously ill patients with Covid. It was really positive and refreshing from a service delivery point of view.
“I am 60 this year and always planned to retire then. I am leaving slightly early as the challenges within General practice have worn me down a bit! I feel I cannot provide the personal care and continuity of care I would like to. The computerised processes we have to follow frequently distract me from the patient in front of me,” he says.
Dr Hartley won’t stop there, however. After a short break, he plans to keep active in the community
“I’m going to spend several months not doing anything and then I fancy doing lots of new things,” he says. “I’m still intrinsically interested in diagnosis so I may restart some sessional work at some point. However I also want to get involved in the voluntary sector such as being city guide, working in a local arboretum. I love amateur dramatics performing with local companies and fancy being a film extra. I also need to exercise my horse to keep him fit. So I will not be lacking in activity.”
I wanted to write to let you know that, after a long and impressive career in General Practice, Dr David Hartley will be retiring from both his practice and his role as a Director of Nimbuscare. It marks the end of a chapter in a career of exceptional clinical care and first rate leadership within partnerships, the LMC and organisations such as Nimbuscare. He will be missed by us, all his clinical colleagues and, I suspect most of all, by his patients.
Nimbuscare Chair Prof Mike Holmes said: " It has been a privilege to work alongside David over the last 20 years – initially in the Out of Hours cooperative, then through the years of practice based commissioning and latterly in Nimbuscare. He contributed in a significant way to bringing all the member practices of Nimbuscare together at a critical time for the community. This allowed us to support the population through the pandemic and laid the foundations for what is to come. David’s experience and leadership were critical during this time and will always be remembered.
"I would like to wish David well in his retirement. I am sure we will stay in close contact over the coming months and years and I hope we might even see him contribute to the healthcare system in a different way."