He has cared for a community in Bristol over the course of five decades - and now tributes are flooding in for Dr Dougal Darvill, who dedicated his life to the people of Hartcliffe. He began as a GP at the Hartwood Healthcare practice back in the late 1980s, and continued there through the 90s, 2000s and 2010s before finally retiring on Thursday, after treating generations of Hartcliffe’s people.
Friends, family, colleagues and patients have paid glowing tributes to Dr Darvill, who many said wanted absolutely no fuss at the end of a long career of service to the community. But his colleagues were determined that his retirement - albeit one where he will return regularly to help out - would not go unmarked.
A post on the Hartwood Healthcare Facebook page announced Dr Darvill’s retirement, and that was met with dozens of patients expressing their love for the popular doctor. “For the past couple of years he has been mainly doing managerial work when we were without a manager, and you may still see him in the corridor on the odd occasion as he will continue to help out in the background on a very part-time basis,” said the post.
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“We know he has been a very much loved and respected GP here who has loved working in Hartcliffe and will be missed.” Many patients replied that he had been the best doctor they’d ever had. “A doctor that always listens and takes his time,” said one patient. “A doctor that made sure you got the best treatment.”
Another patient said: “Happy retirement Dr Darvill, the nicest most caring GP I have ever visited. A GP that will be missed by myself and many others at Hartwood,” while another added: “Enjoy your retirement Dr Darvill, you deserve it. You were a great GP and I always felt confident in following your advice. Sad to see you go.”
But it wasn’t just the patients that paid tribute to Dr Darvill. Friends and colleagues have been too. One said the GP was one of the last of a kind - a doctor who stayed in one community and dedicated their life and career to helping and caring for it.
Dr Darvill was given an understated send off on Thursday, but according to Dr Sue Williams, a fellow GP at the Hartcliffe health centre, he would be ‘mortified by all this attention’.
“There are not enough superlatives to describe Doug,” she said. “He is a great leader, totally devoted to the cause of General Practice, but also to the well being and happiness of his staff. These serious words belie a completely wicked sense of humour that has kept us all going through some very tough times, and an unending supply of patience
“Lesser leaders would leave a great hole when they leave, but in his truly unselfish style, he has worked tirelessly over the last year or so, to train and build resilience in the practice so that , whilst he steps back from the frontline, the practice can continue working together, following the example he has set, with all of the guidance he has left, and hopefully continue to provide the excellent care to which he has aspired over the last 30 years.
“There will still be a great hole, we will miss him hugely, but know that he will be keeping in touch, and helping on the sidelines, and we will celebrate the occasional days when he turns up with his unending good cheer, to inspire us to carry on!” she added. Working out how she’s going to cope without him is practice manager Ellie Truss. “Dougal is integral to the practice and his knowledge of all things primary care knows no bounds.
“His kind and caring nature make it an absolute pleasure to come to work and will make it all the more difficult for me when he leaves. He is the guiding light within the Hartwood family and will be sorely missed by staff and patients alike.” The entire nursing team paid tribute to Dr Darvill, saying he has ‘so many wonderful attributes it's hard to put in a few words’.
“He is truly the most hard-working, caring, kind, patient, strong and resilient man, who is loved by all - patients and staff,” they said. “In the 30+ years he has worked in Hartcliffe, the NHS has changed - sometimes for the better, but often not. These changes have often had a negative impact on areas like ours, but he has fought tirelessly against the system to make things better for our patients.
“In the past two years he has played a massive part in the running of the Covid Vaccination Hub at Knowle West Health Park, and we as a nursing team have had the privilege of working with him there also. His retirement will leave a big hole in our Hartcliffe Heart and we will miss him so much,” they added.
Dr Darvill met and married his wife at the surgery, and they have four children. His early time in Hartcliffe coincided with some of the most challenging periods in the area’s history - the Imperial tobacco factory finally closed, and the area saw devastating riots a couple of years later, followed by a long and often painful period of recovery.
One person who has been involved in the community for about as long is local councillor Helen Holland. She said Dr Darvill was held in ‘real affection’ by the people of Hartcliffe. “In over thirty years of representing Hartcliffe, there are some people that really stand out as significant leaders, in whatever field, and Dr Darvill is definitely one of those,” she said.
“The real affection that he is held in, his knowledge of generations of the same families, his understanding of the underlying health inequalities of the estate, are all a testament to the contribution he has made to our community. He will be a very hard act to follow,” she added.
Hartcliffe contains some of the most socially and economically deprived neighbourhoods in the country - and those inequalities, as Cllr Holland said, have a knock-on effect on the demands on the health service and local GPs.
Working alongside Dr Darvill for many years in trying to address those health inequalities has been John Macleod, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Primary Care from the University of Bristol.
“Dougal is the beating heart of Hartwood and has been my own wise big brother ever since I joined the family 15 years ago,” said Prof Macleod. “I'm really not sure how we'll manage without him, but we owe it to him and all the patients he's always tirelessly championed to do our very best. But I'll still miss you mate, enjoy your new life and never be a stranger,” he added.
Prof Macleod, Dr Darvill and the other health professionals at Hartwood and the sister practice of Hillview have a higher workload than other places with younger, more affluent areas. Some of the communities are in the bottom one per cent of most deprived areas in the country, which means health and social problems are more concentrated and complicated, and getting enough funding is a bigger challenge.
“We get paid less and are expected to do much more, which makes it difficult to recruit staff,” said Prof Macleod. “This isn't a moan, it's just the reality. Nobody works in Hartcliffe for the money, we do it because we love it with our eyes open. It's a great place to work and a great team to work with and the stoicism, fortitude, bravery and sometimes bloody mindedness of our patients is inspirational. And nobody worked harder or gave Hartcliffe more than Dougal,” he added.
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