The old Doctors

[river rats]

who remembers the old Doctors when you were young? I went to Dr Kirkpatrick or Dr Atchison on the shankill road. Dr Atchison was a lovely old man who every one wanted to see. Dr Kirkpatrick who looked like Leslie Crowther was a nightmare who people tried to avoid especially if you wanted a line.
Any way I am sure all the doctors were the same back then everyone moved round the chairs as they got nearer the door to see the doctor. On the wall was a wooden signal board with a buzzer and a wee round window that went red when the doctor was free and the chair shuffle began again. Everyone seemed to be coughing or smoking yes smoking in the doctors.Through the door to see the doctor our receptionist sat what looked like under the stairs and she handed you your record card on the way in. Once into see the doctor the smell of methylated spirits would knock you down I guess there was a lot of injections going on. Out came the tounge depressor and a swift examination. A referral to hospital was the same as a death sentence to be avoided at all costs. I used to get a sore throat and was rewarded with a bottle of medicine that tasted of cherries as a reward for taking this I was bought a bottle of Ribena. German  measles, chickenpox,whooping cough,scarlet fever and the mumps. Sometimes we forget how hard it used to be.
 What's your memories of the old Doctors

[dougie boy]

Went to the doctors and told him I think i'm going deaf ,doc says what are the symtoms,i said aren't they a yellow family on tv

[dougie boy]

Dr Caldwell Crumlin Rd you could catch anything in that waiting room , full of smokers coughing their lungs up, was always fascinated by that big doctors cupboard in his surgery seemed to deal with all manner of ailments

[tboy]

The dreaded call was the one to 'the big doctor' he who could cause havoc by declaring you 'fit for work'

[jmac]

My doctor was McCann on the Crumlin rd, I always remember he had a really deep voice.

[Patsy-Ann]

Went to the doctors and told him I think i'm going deaf ,doc says what are the symtoms,i said aren't they a yellow family on tv

 

[manitoba]

When I was a youngster in the 1940s' My granny was a housekeeper for DR. Smyth at 93 Shankill Rd. Big old house with all coal gas lighting. When I was about 5 or 6 I used to go to Dr. Richie on the Shankill, I still remember the waiting room, no appointments them days, everyone coughing, sneezing wiping their noses on their sleeves. When you seen the doctor he usually had a cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth. Good doctor though. 

[kraftcheese]

Our doctor in the 1950s was Dr Denny on the Ravenhill Road.  Dr Denny was a big man, black, from Africa (unusual in those days to see a black person in Belfast).  Next door to my granny lived a woman who was morbidly obese.  She sat every day on her sofa in her wee "kitchen" facing the window and door (which was left unlocked).  Neighbours and friends used to call to see her and when they knocked, she'd just shout "Come on in".  One time (according to my mum) she had to call the doctor out.  He knocked the door, she called out "Come on in".  In walked Dr Denny (she'd never seen him before), and she let out a bloodcurdling scream that brought the neighbours running.      
Dr Denny was a lovely man who delivered me and most of my siblings.  His brother was Garnet Denny, who I believe was a boxer, and his  partner was Dr Gilmore. 

[river rats]

I think we must have caught more illnesses on our trip to the doctors than receiving any cure. My mummy who was addicted to slimming tablets used to send me down to get a repeat scrip which they always gave me without any problems. When you went to the chemist the always wore white coats and people always seemed to talk in hushed tones of respect.

[xwelder]

I went to see the late Dr DV Saleld with a bad chest once long go.
He prescribed antibiotics. As I was leaving the room, he says to me as he's lighting a cigarette
"and stop smoking"

[SamG]

Our doctor was on the Malone road.  Dr Hanna who worked from his home, a large posh house.   We were from the poor side of the Lisburn Road and therefore a visit meant a long walk up Cadogan Park and always exhausted as there was no direct bus link.     However we were usually in awe of being in a big posh house.    Even as a child I was convinced that Dr Hanna would be thinking that if we had been made to walk such a distance there couldn't be much wrong with us and to be fair when I think back my sister and I were remarkably healthy.    Mother was over protective though and I can remember sitting in his grand front waiting room which was hushed and spotlessly clean.
Mother was a formidable woman from the Shankill and if she said we were ill we didn't argue.

[river rats]

Our doctor was on the Malone road.  Dr Hanna who worked from his home, a large posh house.   We were from the poor side of the Lisburn Road and therefore a visit meant a long walk up Cadogan Park and always exhausted as there was no direct bus link.     However we were usually in awe of being in a big posh house.    Even as a child I was convinced that Dr Hanna would be thinking that if we had been made to walk such a distance there couldn't be much wrong with us and to be fair when I think back my sister and I were remarkably healthy.    Mother was over protective though and I can remember sitting in his grand front waiting room which was hushed and spotlessly clean.
Mother was a formidable woman from the Shankill and if she said we were ill we didn't argue.

Ha ha not many people messed with shankill women without a trip to the doctors but that's were we came in as we used to say at the pictures.

[McNamee]

My Doctors were Dr Campbell and McHugh, they were lovely men....They were on Divis St, you didn't need an appointment you just went in and took your turn...They knew you and all about you....Not like now...

[chi]

Dr Wallace & Dr English Woodvale Rd
I remember the chair shuffle.

[m-cully]

Dr. Hyland and Dr. Hyland, a husband and wife team of doctors who practiced on the Crumlin Road, just above the Crumlin Picture House. The surgery was in their home, the waiting room was their front parlor.
No receptionist or nurse. A buzzer rang and the next patient went back to see the doctor. Simpler times.