Older, fatter, greyer and sad that we have lost so many friends from our year of 75.
We are still in Egglescliffe, near Yarm, Teesside. I settled into a practice here with a Hospital Practitioner job at the James Cook University Hospital. An RCGP research fellowship to launch research networks in England suddenly opened possibilities and as a very late developer I did my MD (on dyspepsia) in my mid-forties. It was wonderful then to be appointed Professor of Primary Care at Durham University and later as
the Dean of Medicine there for the combined Durham-Newcastle Medicine programme. Unexpectedly there was an invitation to be the BMA President in 2016-17 – this experience confirmed the huge influence London doctors has over our profession.
Still hanging on licensed and revalidated I am doing things part-time as Emeritus Professor at Newcastle and as Deputy Chair of the NE and North Cumbria ICB (akin to the old NHS Health Authority). 2024 was a celebratory year as it started with a Knighthood in the New Years honours.
Barbara, an enthusiastic vegetable gardener, continues as the Chair of Justice First, an organisation that assists asylum seekers and refugees. We have three grown up children, all in London, and a four year old grandson who seems to have become the leader of the family.
Please come and visit us!
apshungin@gmail.com