Interview with Donald Wright (b.1924).
Dr Donald Wright arrived in Milton Keynes in 1974, to start up the first Health Centre, at Eaglestone. He describes the medical service when he first arrived, and setting up the new Centre. He covers topics such as the lack of hospital, development of a service to collect blood samples, ‘a flourishing maternity unit’, and the heavy reliance of residents on himself, the health visitors and other team members. He recalls the campaign for a hospital, the growth of his practice, and the difficulties encountered by the surgeons at the new hospital. He set up a radio doctor phone-in programme with Doctor Logan, from Woburn Sands. During the early days in MK, he remembers many people in the local community whom he felt ‘very privileged to have met’. His work imposed many pressures on him and his wife, but they stayed.
He lived in Woughton Park from 1974: ‘one had to sort of go round in gum boots because of the muck and the rubble’; he recalls use of Dial-A-Bus, the Night Rider train ticket to London for 60p; and provision of trees and washing lines for residents. Later they moved to Bradwell Common and to MK Village and he retired in 1989. He expresses concern about health service problems and the change in working practices for doctors, and also wonders whether MK will outgrow its facilities. But he says: ‘It’s been a fascinating time’ and he thinks ‘MK is a splendid place’; he enjoys the theatres, cinemas, orchestra and library.
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