A Medical Giant.

I've just learned of the sad death of Dr David Glyn Jones. Where do I start? First and foremost, DG was the man who saved my life. He picked up the fact that I was in kidney failure and got me to the right place with the minimum of fuss. For that alone I will always owe him a great debt. He is also the man who has inspired me more than any other to pursue a career in General Practice. Although he was just 62 years old, a life can't be measured in mere years.

After he retired as my GP, he continued to do some locum work and I would periodically bump in to him at my local Lidl. He was completely unpretentious and had time for all wherever he happened to be. He didn't finish work at 5.30pm because I don't believe he ever did finish work until last Friday. his consulting style was very relaxed and I always felt as though he was continually assesing me whenever I went to see him. He was clever at drawing people out and one instictively trusted him. No flash car, no flash clothes, no flash talk. Nothing flash about him. He was straight as a die and one of the most genuine people I've ever encountered. When my daughter died from meningitis, he was distraught because he had actually tried to get to our house before the ambulance came even though she wasn't even registered with him. When I decided to go abroad with Mindy after Thea died, we went with his blessing against medical advice because I hadn't long started immune suppression for my kidney transplant. He knew that there are occasions where medical advice takes second place to humanity. He made sure I had hospitals to go to en route and provided me with essential items which I might need.

His decision to leave General Practice was Denbigh's loss. He left due to the crippling mountain of needless paperwork which continues to dog our GPs as I write. He had little truck with the concept of a ten minute appointment and his mantra might have read, "It'll take as long as it takes but it'll be done properly". The funny thing was that I was never consciously aware of people in the waiting room getting fed up with waiting. Perhaps it was because they knew it would be worth the wait. I'm sure he made mistakes because like it or not, all doctors do. But he was absolutely straight with you and left you in no doubt when you left his consulting room.

I missed him when he left General Practice and feel really sad for his family now that he has gone. Having devoted his medical career to the people of Denbigh and the surrounding area, there seems little justice in his passing away so soon. For me, he will always be the man who allowed me to do what I'm doing today because without him, I wouldn't even be here. May he rest in peace.