Colleagues raise a glass as dedicated Wigan GP retires

A much-loved doctor is to retire after 35 years of hard work and dedication to his community.

Dr Daniel Chang has worked at Hall Green Surgery in Up Holland as a GP since 1984.

Over the years he has made friends with countless colleagues and patients and families he has treated.

In an interview with the Wigan Observer he described his more than three decades at the surgery as “enjoyable and very rewarding.”

He said: “It’s been a long time. I’ve enjoyed my job and it’s been very rewarding.

“A lot of patients in the area know me because I’ve been here for so long.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here in the surgery most of the time, as with any job you get ups and downs.”

It’s the end of his career that Dr Chang said he has found most challenging, with the surgery having to grapple with the coronavirus crisis.

He said: “The last few months have been a very strange experience for me.

“Things take a lot longer as you’ve got to put PPE on every time you see a patient and there’s social distancing to follow, so we’ve seen our workload go up.

“Patients were also scared of coming in at first but they’re gradually starting to come back now.

Dr Chang’s career as a doctor started 40 years ago when he qualified in 1980 as a junior doctor at the University of Manchester.

He spent time working in hospitals, including six months at Bolton General, before he underwent a three-year GP training scheme in Tameside.

After this, he joined Hall Green Surgery where he has been ever since. He said the biggest change in that time was technology and how everything from patient records to letters were electronic.

Dr Chang, who is part of a surgery of four GPs, two GP registrars, a nurse, a practice manager and 11 secretarial and reception staff, said: “We’ve seen changes of management structure over the years from different governments which is a bit upsetting for GPs.

“But the biggest change was in the early 2000s when we went to a computer system where we don’t write anything.

“We use everything electronically from patients’ records to results and letters.”

When asked what advice he would give to young up-and-coming doctors, Dr Chang said: “You need to listen to the patient and eventually they will tell you the diagnosis.

“You deal with a variety of patients and you never know who will come through the doors next.

“You also need to know quite a lot about every health condition as it’s general practice.”

And to celebrate his retirement, an indoor celebrations with decorations and staff raising a glass at lunchtime to Dr Chang took place.

Dr Chang, who has two children, Emma, 24, and Thomas, 26, now plans to enjoy his retirement with his wife Jayne.

His daughter Emma will be following in his footsteps after recently qualifying as a

doctor.

He added: “I was planning to travel but that has been scuppered for now because of the coronavirus but I’ll be playing a few rounds of my favourite sport golf.

“It’s sad to retire but it’s great that my daughter will be taking on my shoes in the NHS in future years.”