Dr Henrietta Burton, Leicestershire
Dr Henrietta Burton MRCGP has been a GP in Anstey, Leicestershire,
for over four years. A GP partner, part-time hospital clinician and
teacher, her special interests include breast care, family planning
and palliative care.
“My ambition has always been to become a GP.
Somehow even now I can hardly believe I have achieved this. I love
the unique challenges and rewards general practice offers. All GPs
know how emotionally draining the work can be at times, but I
really could never imagine becoming bored of my job.
“Personally, the greatest appeal of general
practice has always been the concept of being a ‘family doctor’.
GPs have such a unique relationship with their patients, their
families and the community.
“Being a partner within a practice has brought
an unexpected dimension to being a doctor. I have felt a huge sense
of freedom to put forward ideas and develop changes that either
make the practice run more smoothly or improve patient care. Since
I have been in Anstey, we have changed the appointment system,
extended the premises, set up monthly practice meetings, employed
an additional practice nurse and are steadily becoming
paperless.
“My personal contributions include setting up
and running our monthly Gold Standards Framework (GSF) palliative
care meetings, developing an ongoing practice development plan and
organising a timetable of clinical meetings. These achievements are
further reaching than the individual patient care given in
day-to-day consultations. Being involved with creating change gives
the entire team a great sense of achievement to know we are
improving the healthcare provided to the whole community.
“One afternoon a week, I work at the local
breast care unit. I see this as an additional clinical skill and it
adds variety to my week, which helps make general practice more
refreshing to return to. The experience of working in secondary
care for a small part of each week reminds me of the different
challenges hospital colleagues encounter, and the ways that
barriers between primary and secondary care can be reduced with
good communication.
“I am very proud to be a GP and of the health
system we work for.”