Dedicated health centre professionals say farewell

Linda Underwood, who was practice manager at Pendleside Medical Practice, and Phil Mileham, who was managing partner of the Castle Medical Group, have both retired.

Linda retired after 29 years service to Pendleside. The mother-of-two and grandmother-of-four spent nine of those years as secretary and 20 as practice manager. She is now looking forward to a much deserved retirement with her husband Keith visiting her sons and her young grandchildren who are based in London and America.

“It was fabulous working at the health centre and it was great working as part of such a good team – a lot of our successes were the result of working as a team,” said Linda.

Dr Melanie Cronin said: “Linda will be much missed by all her colleagues, but was given a great send off at The Spead Eagle Hotel, Sawley, where friends and colleagues, past and present, were gathered to say goodbye.”

Linda’s role has been taken on by Sharon Orr, who was previously a practice manager at a practice in Blackpool.

During both Linda and Phil’s time at the health centre, the two medical practices were rated “outstanding” in 2016 by the Care Quality Commission. Both practices were rated in the top three per cent of practices nationally.

Phil Mileham, who spent 28 years at Castle Medical Group, also played a huge part locally in the PCT and then the CCG.

He served on many committees and was a founding member of the Ribblesdale Community Partnership bringing different organisations together including the borough council, hospital, GPs and the voluntary sector.

The father-of-three, who is looking forward to visiting his daughter in Canada during his retirement, was given a great musical send off by friends and colleagues at Bashall Barn.

His role has been taken over by Julie Oliver, who has worked at the practice for the past 15 years. She has worked very closely with Phil , who has ensured that he has left the practice in the best possible shape.