Richard Kirk
GP Partner & Clinical Director of Healthcare in Prison
It is very rewarding looking after people who struggle to access care
Richard
I am a GP Partner and trainer in Newtownards and also the Clinical Director of Healthcare in Prison for the South Eastern Trust. My week is split approx. 50/50 between both roles – I used to work more in community general practice but when I became a clinical director I reduced my time in Newtownards to allow for the management role.
I qualified as a GP in 2011, became a GP partner in 2012 and we became a training practice and I a trainer in 2016. This has been an enjoyable journey and now our practice would be lost without our trainees! I started work as a GP in Prisons in 2011 and in 2017 became the clinical director of Healthcare in Prisons in NI. This is another fascinating role – most of my time in prison is clinical but I do spend one session a week doing management duties such as appraisal, replying to legal correspondence, writing protocols and meeting with the rest of the senior team. I love the variety.
I enjoy GP training and learning from all the trainees that come through the practice. I also enjoy the continuity of community practice and knowing the hidden links between families and different patients in the surgery. I am lucky to work with two great teams – we have a fantastic team in Killynether and I also work with a brilliant senior team in SET – both love a good night out!
Healthcare in prison is a different world- by now I have come to know our regular patients there quite well too and there are many relationships we have built up over years. It is very rewarding looking after people who struggle to access care normally (we have huge numbers of homeless people and those to whom life has not been kind).
Prison Healthcare is an expanding field worldwide- this has opened lots of doors for me with international organisations such as the WHO, ICRC and the Council of Europe as well as the RCGP, so I have the hardship of having to travel occasionally to tell our story and collaborate with like-minded professionals all over the place!
You never know what is around the corner and what you could develop a passion for- I certainly didn’t expect to be doing this role but I love it. I would encourage people to never rule something out professionally until you have given it a try, you never know where it could lead.