Last month, staff at Lindfield Medical Centre bid farewell to one of the village’s best known residents. After 31 years caring for patients in the village and beyond, Dr Andrew Reader has hung up his stethoscope. It’s a huge lifestyle change for the popular doctor who has seen the practice evolve to meet the growing demand of an ever-expanding village, and rise to many challenges, from government reforms to Covid-19. But the father of two is ready for a new challenge and leaves the profession and practice in safe hands, to continue the values of a traditional patient-centred general practice.

By Claire Cooper

Andrew Reader was born into a medical family. “I’m a fourth-generation medic,” he said. “My great grandfather, Jeremiah Reader, was in practice in Wakefield when home visits were done by pony and trap. My grandfather Nobby was a GP and surgeon in Wimbledon working throughout the Blitz and my father, Tony, who sadly passed away last year, did his national service as a medic in Korea and then became a well respected GP in Horsham.”

But despite the family tradition, Andrew kept an open mind about a career in medicine as he progressed through school. “I originally wanted to be an architect,” he recalled. “But when I got to my A-Levels I started to think about sciences and went into medicine as a result, even though I was fortunate to be able to continue studying Art as well.” Andrew’s father, grandfather and great grandfather all trained at Guys Hospital but, in 1977, he broke tradition, accepting a place at the London Hospital at Whitechapel (now the Royal London).

“It was a fabulous training, as they had a holistic approach which focussed on nurturing you and your interests. I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a medical student in the east end of London, which provided such a diverse insight into the challenges (poverty/social deprivation/multi-ethnicity) of modern health care,” said Andrew who qualified in 1982. During his final year, Andrew spent his elective year working in South Africa. “It was during apartheid, and I saw lot of major illness including TB and acute trauma,” he said. “It was a fascinating experience.”

On returning to England, Andrew broadened his experience with ‘house jobs’ in Chichester and Chelmsford and later, a demanding psychiatry job in Brighton before GP rotation jobs in Shoreham and Worthing. “This wide experience was invaluable before settling on becoming a GP, and I began doing locum work while looking for a practice,” he said. “When a position came up in Lindfield it was perfect for us - I had an aunt who lived in Lindfield so was familiar with the village,” he added. Andrew joined the practice as a partner in 1990, moving to Pondcroft Road initially and for the last 20 years Walstead with his wife Jenny, a nurse who worked at the old Cuckfield Hospital and Hurstwood Park.

Find the rest of Andrew’s story across a well-deserved 3 pages of August’s Lindfield Life, beginning on page 42.