Recollections of a long-serving GP

Dr David Yates is retiring after 35 years of work in Marton and Wanganui. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

THE funniest thing that ever happened to GP David Yates in his line of work ended with a baby swinging by its legs and Dr Yates sprawled on the floor.

"I was delivering a baby - it was a breech delivery," the retiring 65-year-old Aramoho doctor said.

"You had to have control over the head with some forceps. I was sitting on a stool with a rubber cushion. The midwife had the legs, I had the forceps. As I gently guided the head out, the cushion slipped and I fell off the stool."

GPs such as Dr Yates don't deliver babies anymore, and he said he missed the contact with patients from an early age.

"It was quite a good time to be involved with a family," he said.

The people, after all, are Dr Yates' favourite part of the job - he's even had patients stay with him all the way through his 35 years as a GP, and has treated up to three generations in one family.

The news that he'll be retiring next week sparked some emotion for some of Dr Yates' regulars.

"Just the expected, 'don't go', 'why are you going' et cetera," he said.

Even though he's set to retire, Dr Yates can't give up the work quite yet. He'll probably do some locum work in the Bay of Plenty. "I can't play golf and fish all day."

Born in Sussex, Dr Yates moved to New Zealand and worked at the old Marton Hospital for 23 years before moving to Wanganui and working at the Aramoho Health Centre for another 12.

He'd seen an advertisement in a British medical journal calling for doctors in New Zealand.

"They would pay a return fare if you signed a contract for 18 months or two years."

The father-of-three and grandfather-of-four made a life for himself in New Zealand. One of his daughters followed in his footsteps and now works as a GP in Rotorua, while another daughter works for the Mental Health Crisis Team.

The hardest part of the job for him is the stress. "Just concerns that you've made the right clinical decision - that's what keeps you awake at night. Having to be right all the time."

Patients that impacted on him included young people who died unexpectedly, "especially in the old days when there wasn't any treatment available. These days they would survive.

"Or a lady dying of cancer who pleaded with me to make sure she was really dead before they buried her.

"You just feel privileged, I suppose, that you're there to be a help. It's just part of the job. In the days before hospice we were involved with that sort of thing."

Of the things that have changed over 35 years, Dr Yates said there was nothing that particularly stood out to him, but the paperwork was annoying, and the workload had increased.

"I think patients are more informed these days and expect more, so the concentration has increased.

"When I was working in London we were seeing people every six minutes."

A permanent replacement for Dr Yates had not yet been found, but they had four long-term locums which he expected would "take up the slack".

Dr Yates' last day will be Thursday next week.