Page 6 - link magazine

6 The Link Magazine • May 2003
The surgery as an important part of the community
Dr Peter Swinyard of the Phoenix general practice at Toothill Village Centre
wonders why some people are willing to attack a doctor's surgery
by Focus It saddens me that the reason I lost. Our patients had been most On the brighter side, we have
a local charity was asked to write this article was generous and the bottle was about been very fortunate to have such
he break-in we suffered at the half full, including a lot of pound delightful and generous patients.
25 Morley Street, Swindon
Phoenix Surgery at the end of coins and some banknotes. A very Our 'FOPS' group has been very
• Evenings and weekends March. modest guess would be £200 but it active in raising funds for the ben-
Someone broke through a side could have been as much as £500. efit of patients. Among their suc-
• £5.98 - £6.50 an hour
,vindow, got into the waiting room Only the thief knows. cesses has been the provision of
• Travel paid at 32p a mile rnd stole the giant whisky jar in We had to throw away the toys the leather sofas and a sound sys-
• Own transport essential A'hich we had been collecting and children's chairs showered tern in the waiting room, the dish-
unds for the Friends of Phoenix with glass under the broken win- washer for our (many) coffee mugs,
• NVQ training in-house iurgery (FOPS), intended to buy dow. Incredibly these were then an ECG machine for monitoring
nedical equipment and patient stolen from our dustbin, patients' hearts, an ultrasonic
Tel: 01793 531133
:omforts. Since opening surgical instru
for details It is hard to guess how much we the practice in - ment cleaner and
Toothill in 1997,, a wonderful and
after working for _ very expensive
10 years in operating lamp in
Westlea, we have " r the treatment
tried to make the room.
Part-time For a Cook surgery feel like I Apart from
Office Administrator one of the focal fundraising,
Scolarest require points for the lo- FOPS volunteers
A small West Swindon a cook for its busy cal community. provide most
business is looking for catering facility at When it came to welcome feed-
building our $backandsupport
office assistance. Greendown School, present surgery, ]r at events not in-
Previous experience within Grange Park. we had the rare tended to be fi-
customer services / sales office pleasureofbeing a nancially profit-
along with computer skills Hours: 9am - 2.30pm, able to design the - , able. For exam-
essential. term time only building from Peter Swinyard surveying the damage ple, a recent
which I expect to cheese and wine
Interested? For information call
For details, call work for the rest of my career. evening was a brilliant success in
872300 or mail CV to: Our brief to the architect was as providing an opportunity for many
Christine on 852979
[email protected] difficult as it was simple. We patients who would not normally
wanted the premises to feel wel- have any social event to attend to
coming, warm, corn orta e and come an meet of er peop e m t e
d 1
h
h
f
bl
local community. Such things can-
i
Sw ndon's as near as possible to the old way not be measured by a financial
of visiting the doctor's house. I
carpet think that the architect did a great bottom line.
job. We spent a very long time It is the kindness and willing-
cleaning refining and modifying his sug- ness to help other people which
gestions but the end result was makes so many of our patients spe-
professional worthwhile. cial. We have often found that
He wanted to put in smaller win- someone is delighted to be asked
is ready w11JS11PE dows with metal shutters and to help another patient who is in
to help NIRCSPEC'aS`S^ heavy security. We didn't. The last difficulty, or even to turn up to be
thing that we wanted was to have
guinea pigs for my teaching of
CpPPET & U pHOt s \ 193) $ J U' a fortress. The more barriers you medical students.
.
* Fully trained & put up, the more aggressive peo- I could not wish to work in a
insured operators \. pCI^AI, INSUPINCI ple feel when entering, more rewarding community and
®
* Commercial rates We did take some basic precau- feel very lucky to be here.
available MEStIC' tions. The building is covered with
a protective anti-graffiti coating,
* Professional spotting which has proved its worth. The Rooms for rent
kits available windows are metal framed and Toothill Community Centre has a
Stain removal made easy Alan Trask of Ultra Clean double glazed. Despite this, we large and small hall, plus a meet-
* Deodorising treatment have had two break-ins and two ing room for hire.
Leaves carpets & * Anti allergy treatment other episodes of smashed glass. There are
fabric smelling fresh For asthma & allergy Why do people do this? Do they vacant slots
see it as government property and available for
* Leather suites cleaned sufferers
an attack on it as a way of protest private func-
& treated it Satisfaction guaranteed against the state? tions. social i
It is not government property. events and
Phone now for free no obligation estimate on
In fact, the building is owned by community
01793 - 870756 the doctors, who have put their activities on
Wednesday,
own money into it and have an
enormous mortgage on it (thanks, Thursday and
ULTRA CLEAN NatWest!). Friday morn-
While we do get a'rent' from the ings and after-
(WILTSHIRE) NHS for its use for NHS purposes, noons.
it does not cover the mortgage re- For details
Open: Mon - Fri 9am - 7pm • Sat 9am - 1pm payments. Not by any means. call Annette Kennedy on 614492.