End of an era as practice nurse retires after caring for Wigan patients for 47 years

Delia Clarke is spending her final day at work on Wednesday after being employed within the NHS for an impressive 47 years.

Along with spending decades supporting patients, she was only the second practice nurse in the country to become a partner in a GP practice and take on a GP service contract when she was involved in setting up Premier Health Team GP practice in Leigh.

Delia said: “I have very mixed emotions about retiring. I am excited for the new chapter, but it has been an awful long time: 50 years in employment, 47 in nursing and 29 years as a practice nurse.

“Being a nurse is ‘me’, it’s who I am, so it will be interesting to define myself as a retired person. I will miss my patients and staff and my lovely team, but now is as good a time as any to make the step and have a change and I am ready to embrace it.”

Delia did her nurse training at the age of 18 and then spent several years working in a hospital as a ward nurse, before finding her true calling - practice nursing.

She became a practice nurse before it was really a nursing career, when working on cardiac wards with very sick people, she discovered that she was passionate about promoting healthy living and reducing the number of people having heart attacks.

She has enjoyed helping people from before they are even born right through to their old age and working with whole families.

Committed to education, Delia has dedicated lots of time to developing support for other practice nurses and has travelled around the country delivering training.

She set up a practice nurse forum in Wigan so they could support and mentor each another and transform practice nursing in the borough.

Delia said: “I want others to enjoy practice nursing like I have, that’s why I have educated, promoted and tried to support others. I have had some of my work published and run education sessions across the country to spread the word about group consultations. It is all the new stuff that keeps you going and keeps you excited.”

Delia set up Premier Health Team with the practice manager and a GP. In recent years it has twice been rated as “outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission.

She has continued to push the boundaries of the role of a practice nurse and advocated for their advancement, including working with the Queen’s Nurses Institute and sitting on national committees in the Department of Health.

She has also been recognised through the winning of several Practice Nursing and Quality awards.

With very mixed emotions about her retirement, Delia plans to spend more time sewing, dressmaking, working on her allotment and spending lots of socially distanced time with her family.

Dr Tim Dalton, a GP and chairman of NHS Wigan Borough CCG, said: “I have worked with Delia for many years and have loved every moment of it. She has brought passion and joy to practice nurses and has been an inspiration to me and many other GPs and practice nurses. She has always pushed the boundaries of what is possible and never let anything stop her from doing the right thing for her patients.

“She will be missed by me, but also I am sure, by all of her staff and patients at Premier Health Team. I would like to thank her for lifetime of service and dedication to the borough.”

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