There have been Surgery premises in Topcliffe since the 19th Century. For over 50 years the Surgery was situated in The Mount in Church Street when Dr Talbot Carter Mitchell was the physician surgeon. He was born in Topcliffe and became the local doctor in 1900 at the age of 23 years, taking over from his father. He continued to practise until 1953.
Dr Carter Mitchell was a colourful character and many of the patients of the Practice today remember him. All have stories to tell. We are told that when he went out to do home visits his wife would accompany him. Her role was to change gear while he drove the car. When it came to consultations in the Surgery it is said that he would often go out into the waiting room, survey the assembled company, announce, "I will see you, you and you" and send the others away. Fortunately we don't do that today! All patients who arrive in the advertised hours for the walk-in surgery are seen.
Dr Margaret Slater took over the Practice in 1953 at a time when there were few female General Practitioners. She practised from Bridge House.
After Dr Slater moved on to a different post in 1961 Dr Yves Dias became the local GP. Subsequently the Surgery moved to his home, The Old Vicarage, Topcliffe.
The Practice remained single-handed until 1965 when Dr Dias invited Dr Peter Robinson to join him. Throughout the time from the 19th Century to 1965 the single-handed doctor provided all medical cover for the patients of the Practice 24 hours a day 365 days a year - unless he could find a locum doctor to stand in. From 1965 the cover was shared between the two doctors. This remained the case until 1996 when the pressure of the out-of-hours workload led to the establishment of a co-operative of local GPs. This enabled sharing of the burden of out-of hours cover among a larger group of GPs. Since January 2005 the responsibility for out-of hours provision has been handed over nationally to the Primary Care Trusts.
In anticipation of Dr Dias's retirement Dr Robinson commissioned the building of the current premises, which were opened in 1983. Indeed he did more than commission. He actually built the interior of the first floor himself, after money allocated for the first floor was spent instead on an unanticipated, but necessary, concrete raft to support the new building.
Originally the Practice was confined to the ground floor of the building, the upstairs being a caretaker's flat. By the time Dr Robinson retired it was apparent that the Practice could no longer be sustained by one doctor consulting at a time. The front of the building had already been pulled out to enlarge the downstairs waiting room and the Practice had taken on use of the upstairs flat. Since 1992 the Practice has gradually expanded so that it now occupies every room in the building.
Dr Christine Shaw joined the Practice when Dr Dias retired in 1985 and Dr Charles Parker became a partner when Dr Robinson retired in 1992.
