The house situated on the corner of Middleton Hall Rd and Selly Oak Road was I understand remodelled in 1885 in the Arts and Crafts style. In 1905 Dr Fernaux Jordan began practicing General Practice from it whilst using it as a home. He had a coach house on Selly Oak Rd to keep his horse and trap for his rounds. The practice expanded and other Drs Joined the partnership, notably Drs O’ Brien, Gray and Cull. We have ledgers from 1931 detailing patient’s payments for medical services before the inception of the NHS in 1947.
The practice has evolved and changed overtime. Dr’s Davies, Bartlett and Huddleston became trainers for GPs in the early 1980’s. Dr Debenham was their first trainee and became a partner in 1985. She was key to Granton being in the first wave of practices teaching undergraduate community medicine for the University of Birmingham Medical School in 1996. She retired in 2011 and is currently the lynchpin of our COVID volunteer vaccinators. As Dr Davies retired, I replaced him in 1998 and started teaching 4 th year medical students. Since then, we have remained a thriving training and teaching practice. Dr Will Hardy was one of our star trainees and became the 15th and final partner in 2016.
More recently, general practice has seen an increased complexity in its provision. To deliver this our partnerships have been aided by salaried Drs, skilled nurses, health care assistants, counsellors, psychologists and pharmacists ably supported by managers and an administration team. All of these people are vital to us providing quality family orientated General Medical Practice.
We have outgrown what is essentially a modified home. The time has come to move to a specially purposed medical centre. This will enable us to continue grow and adapt to the changes in patient needs, NHS standards, and to provide excellence in medical, nursing and para-medical education. Through this we aim to honour Dr Jordan’s legacy in a way that is fit for the 21st Century.
Dr Philip Western, March 2021