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Wales:
Another
day at the office: Dr Kelly does not use a traditional black bag There might be no
shortage of GPs in At 78, he is the oldest doctor in the country employed by
Primecare, the On the cold, wet and windy weeknight I met him at his home
in He is still keen to work - holding surgeries and making
house calls at all times and in all weathers - at an age when many people
at his time in life are happy to enjoy their retirement. Dr Kelly has tried retirement. Twice. And it just doesn't
suit him. Yet he is bemused to think he might be unlike your average
78-year-old, and has every intention of carrying on. He said: "There are plenty of people like me who are
working into their 90s. I'm not that unusual. "As long as I enjoy the work, I will carry on doing
it." When he became a partner of a practice in Dowlais in January
1961, he would be on duty every other night. At the same time the
father-of-six was renovating the family house. "I would finish surgery about "You could have three calls from
The 78-year-old says he is not unusual
in still working at his age It's true. It was only a couple of months ago that he was
out in the Provided with a driver by Primecare, the good doctor says he
has a secret weapon: he needs only four to five hours sleep a night. Despite working in one of the most socially deprived parts
of Wales, Dr Kelly is adamant that he has never been troubled by the
threats and abuse which plagues so many working doctors these days. What he won't tell is that he has a bedside manner which
could be a model for young doctors. "You have to pay attention to what you are doing. If
you are nice to patients, and you give them a chance to talk, they will
tell you what's wrong," he said. After qualifying in After a couple of years, Dr Kyne, a fellow It wasn't long before Dr Kelly made his mark. His experience
in mental health care let him see there was a need for a specialist in
that field.
Dr Kelly and his wife, Kitty, had
their golden anniversary last year Psychotherapy
specialist He set up a weekly group psychotherapy session and, more
than 40 years later, he is still running it. "I knew that nobody suffers as much as people who
suffer from a neurotic illness. They suffer as much as someone with an
acute appendicitis." Dr Kelly retired for the first time in 1987, but was back at
work the following week working part-time. That continued until 1995 when
he retired for the second time. But when Primecare gave him a call, he could not resist the
temptation to pick up his doctor's bag once again. Dr Kelly believes his younger full-time colleagues are just
too worn out with the bureaucracy and form-filling which has become such a
feature of a doctor's job. "There is so much administration these days," he
said. "A doctor has to account for every minute of his or her day and
every decision they make. "If they were only allowed to get on with the job, they
would not be so exhausted." And with that, it was time
of both of us to leave. I drove home to Copyright © 2002
Global Action on Aging |
