Theresa notches up over 36 years’ service

Congratulations  and a huge thanks to Theresa Beard from Corby who has clocked up a staggering 36 years working at our Corby practices.

She joined Dr Sharman and Partners on Elizabeth Street straight after leaving school in 1988 when the receptionists manned two phones each and hand-wrote appointments in huge desk ledgers, often getting entwined in the telephone cords in the process! She was involved in so many administrative and secretarial tasks that the practice manager nicknamed her her ‘flexible friend’!

When Theresa went on maternity leave the practice moved to new premises – Forest Gate Surgery in 2001 and inevitably there have been changes in technology and working practices ever since.    

Theresa said: ‘Back when I started the paper notes were stored on huge rotating shelves known as “daleks”. The notes had to be taken out for the next day’s surgery and then refiled. It was all very time consuming and a very analogue process when compared with the systems and processes we have today.’

Over the years, although her focus and areas of responsibility have changed, Theresa’s loyalty to the practice and patients is the same: ‘I have celebrated so many milestones as part of the practice. I celebrated my 18th and 21st birthdays plus engagement, marriage and having my child. It has been a really interesting and varied career and I have seen every aspect of a GP surgery, including orders, prescriptions, finance and processing, plus patient facing roles. When starting as a school leaver I never imagined that I would still be working here so many years later, but it is all about the patients at the end of the day.’

Theresa is pictured being presented with her long service award by Lakeside’s Chair, Dr Sanjay Gadhia.