Popular doctor retires

That’s because Dr Paul Hartley, who has been working at the Yorkshire Street Medical Centre for the last 32 years, is retiring from the surgery to do some archeological excavation.

He is now all set to make the unusual career change after officially retiring this week.

“It’s a hobby of mine,” said Dr Hartley. “It’s something I’ve always been interested in.”

Despite having already officially retired, Dr Hartley will continue working at the surgery for the next couple of months until Yorkshire

Street Medical Centre finds new partners.

But after that he plans to do a little bit of travelling before making the career change.

Despite retiring from the busy surgery, Dr Hartley looks back on his career with a certain amount of fondness and says that the most striking thing about his career is the amount of changes he has seen in the profession.

“There’s a lot more done in general practice these days, we’re a lot busier than we were 35 years ago,” said Dr Hartley.

“That’s because it’s a lot more convenient for the general public, we do a lot things in this surgery that several years ago only hospitals would deal with.

“That’s part of the reason why I’ve made this decision, I think central government are asking us to do too much and they’re putting too much pressure on GPs across the country.

“I’ve seen some physical changes too, this surgery was only half the size when I started here.”

Although Dr Hartley is looking forward to his new challenge, he admits there is certain parts of the profession that he will miss.

“I’ll definitely miss treating patients, that was my favourite part of the job!”