By Dr Richard Denison

At the end of June 2001, Drs Denison and McCall-Smith retired from their role as School Doctors. Dr Denison recalls his 10 years with the School.

With my lifelong interest in paediatrics, I was delighted with the appointment of my practice to the vacant position of Medical Officer to Heriot's ten years ago. Matron was very welcoming in her cramped corner site, which was at that time located next to the Core stores. The Headmaster, Keith Pearson, plus all the teaching and non-teaching staff were all very friendly as well, and there was a great anxiety to up-grade the primitive facilities we had inherited.

Elizabeth and I have enjoyed our weekly visits to Heriot's – it has been a pleasant escape from the Bruntsfield Medical Practice hurly-burly, although I can’t claim that the sessions here have always been stress-free! For me, one of the bonuses has been the chance to chat to members of staff over coffee, although I have noticed in recent years the fifteen minutes is often contracted because of sessional overrun, and there has been a diminishing number of teaching staff available in the common room because of their own increasing work pressures too.

At an early stage in our appointment, the School Governors allowed us to have a meeting of medical offices in the main Boardroom sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. By having a get together of doctors from the other fee paying schools in Edinburgh, it allowed us to plan the service that we now have in Heriot's and which we hope is at least equal to the best already in existence. Another thing that occurred in the earlier years, to get back to the coffee break, was for me to inflict myself on splinter groups of coffee drinkers, the music, maths, and physics departments for example, but latterly for various reasons, I have simply gravitated to the main common room, and this has often been a convenient opportunity for Alistair Hector, the present Headmaster, to also chat to me. You may know that he and I have tried to have a formal meeting a couple of times each term, with more of the circumstances require it, to assist his own regular meetings with the Trust.

For those who are unclear about what goes on in the medical corner, the doctors there devote the majority of their time to routine Primary One and Secondary Two health screening, currently of all the five and thirteen year old pupils by appointment. We also, until recently, used to do Foundationer entry medical examinations. With our examinations, input from the teaching staff is always very welcome, especially where problems which could have an impact on the child’s education performance are identified by us. The rest of the time is spent dealing with various activities like counselling (this applied to pupils and staff), pre-employment medical examinations of staff at Heriot’s, and participation in occasional health education activities. For example, we had a half day sex education symposium three years or so ago with Mr Ogilvie and the Senior Four pupils, and on another occasion, we spent time with the nursery talking about the work of doctors to the wide-eyed tinies. Most recently, we have provided influenza vaccination to the teaching and non-teaching entire staff who wished it.

I will miss Heriot’s, but retirement for me approaches very soon, and by this time next year, I should be enjoying time with all the activities I haven’t so far had time to devote to. Occasional use of your swimming pool, horn playing in your senior orchestra, joining your staff and their families at the annual fireworks display in the Heriot’s grounds, being an honoured guest at Founder’s Day dinners and at June Day parades, etc., will all remain with me as very pleasant momentos of my time here. Katy Chapman has been a constant source of support to us both, and we will always be indebted to her – she was always there to help us, and indeed our GP trainees and medical students when they joined us on occasion, and I know how much the staff and pupils constantly value her skills and understanding.

So thank you all. Elizabeth and I hope our successors will be as happy with their work in the school as we have been.