‘A wonderful GP’, ‘more like a friend than a doctor’ and ‘always there when our family needed her’.
The vast number of comments on social media this week as a Co Armagh GP retired after close to three decades said so much of what she meant to the local community.
But in the case of Dr Sonniva McAlinden, they were certainly not misplaced.
As she left Tynan Surgery this week, Dr McAlinden did so with bouquets of flowers, cards and gifts and the warmest wishes of an entire community.
Precious too are the memories which she has made at Tynan, where she first came to work as a GP locum in 1995 when Dr Fitz Gillespie was in charge; she accepted an offer of partnership in 1998 and has been there ever since.
Speaking to Armagh I on Tuesday, her last day at the surgery, Dr McAlinden said there were “so many things” which made working in a rural practice such as Tynan so special.
“There’s a great sense of community,” she said. “It is a wonderful place to work in because of the support that we enjoy from our patients.
““The patients are very involved in and very invested in the practice. I feel the community values having access to GP services close to home.”
Dr McAlinden is married to Sean, who also works in healthcare, and they have three grown-up children – Michael, 31, 29-year-old Catherine, and Ciara, 25.
While working at Tynan, she still lives in Portadown, where her mother looked after their children during those early days in what has been a long and rewarding vocation.
“I wouldn’t have been able to work as a GP in the early days without my family to help with the children because of early starts, late nights and out-of-hours commitment – which were all part of the deal at that time,” explained Dr McAlinden.
Pictured (L to R), Dr Stephanie McCarron, Dr Valerie Grant, Dr Sonniva McAlinden, who has retired from Tynan Surgery, Dr Robert Carlile and Dr Claire McIlhatton.
Going back to those early years, the Tynan GP’s educational journey took her from St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon to Armagh College of Further Education. She then attended Queen’s University Belfast and completed her hospital training at Craigavon Hospital. Having qualified in 1990, she did her GP training at the Moores Lane practice in Lurgan before eventually arriving at Tynan.
In the intervening years, the surgery has gone from strength to strength and grown in terms of patient numbers.
“When I started in ’98, there were 4,800 patients registered and now there are almost 6,700,” said Dr McAlinden.
“The increasing numbers of patients has obviously increased the workload dramatically. We’ve had support in recent years from the GP Federation which has been great, and they provide us with pharmacist support, with a general practice nurse and an Advanced Nurse Pratictioner.”
Looking back, when she started, Dr McAlinden was one of four partners – two full time and two part time. And going forward there will be two partners and three salaried GPs, with a new female GP due to begin mid-April.
Now as she prepares to move on from Tynan and take a well-earned rest, she will remember all with great affection and gratitude.
“I have very fond memories of all the patients that I’ve met and come to know over the years,” added Dr McAlinden.
“I think a good bedside manner is essential for a GP. The doctor-patient relationship is everything.
“It’s been a privilege to share the life journeys with my patients and I will have cherished memories of the support and the loyalty that I’ve experienced in the surgery.
“And we have a superb, dedicated staff. We have a super team that works really hard for the benefit of all the patients.”
As with everything in life, there are challenges too but, as a team, Tynan Surgery has been able to weather the storms and continue to provide the reliable, professional and dedicated care for which it is widely known and respected.
“Covid was very challenging. We did not enjoy moving to telephone consultations. We missed the interaction with patients. That was one of the things that was most difficult for us,” admitted Dr McAlinden. “And changing technology and computer systems have been challenging for me especially.”
Dr McAlinden with colleagues and staff at Tynan Surgery.
This week, patients have been paying their personal tributes and saying their goodbyes and ‘thank-yous’, presenting their own gifts – cards, chocolates, flowers and more – as Dr McAlinden got ready to leave.
And staff were planning a ‘leaving lunch’ at the surgery too.
All will miss Dr McAlinden greatly as she will them.
“I’ll miss the buzz, the noise, the busyness, and I’ll miss the interactions with the patients and staff,” she said.
“I’m overwhelmed with the comments on Facebook, but I have to say that I would not be in a position to receive those comments without the background support that I have had from the rest of our team, from the admin staff, from the nursing staff and from my fantastic GP colleagues.
“I would like to express my thanks for all the best wishes that I have received, the cards, the flowers and the gifts to mark my retirement, and the lovely comments on Facebook. I’d like to thank my patients and my colleagues and wish them all the very best for the future.”
Having invested so much of herself and dedicated so much of her life to Tynan Surgery and its needs, it will be something of a culture shock to find herself with free time just for herself to do as she chooses.
And Dr McAlinden already has firm ideas of how she will while away those hours as she embarks upon a well-deserved retirement.
“I have a lot of hobbies that I want to pick up again,” she said. “First goal is to improve my time in the Saturday park run! I love gardening and there’s a lot of tidying up to do. I plan to restart my Spanish and Irish classes.
“And, of course, I will be spending more time with my family.”
