Retired GP Hilary Enevoldson on her life's work in palliative care

Retired GP Hilary Enevoldson, from Scorton, has made it her life's work to be a part of this transition. She describes it as a privilege to be involved in making the path smoother for families.

"I loved being involved in palliative care," she says. "I worked for a time at The Rutson, a community hospital in Northallerton, which is now The Potting Shed. I felt I was providing a service and I got to know the patients and their families really well; my aim to help them get through a stressful situation, and for the patients to have appropriate pain relief and nursing care. It was a serious job but it was fun too. I just tried to make things better for people."

Hilary was born in London, and with a father in the RAF, the family travelled around. They moved to Ripon, where she went to school, and at 18 Hilary travelled back to London to train at St Mary's hospital, Paddington, the hospital where she was born. Her first house job, which was part of her training, was in London, where she studied surgery, and the second was at the Friarage, Northallerton, where she studied medicine. She moved there with her husband Nigel, who was also training.

"A houseman is to be the lowest of the low," she says. "You do everything and could be on call every other night, as well as the day."

Eventually, Hilary and Nigel moved back to London as they had employment at St Mary's, but in 1979 they decided to return to the Friarage where they had both got places on a vocational training scheme for general practice.

Nigel got a job as a GP in Scorton, so didn't need to complete the scheme, but Hilary did, and afterwards started to do locum work, mainly in the Duchess of Kent Army Hospital at Catterick, in a ward for elderly people. In 1984 she was offered a partnership at Mayford House doctors' surgery in Northallerton.

Hilary Enevoldson with a young patient

"This was a job share opportunity which was so innovative at the time," she says. "It was the first job-share in the area, and I stayed there until I retired at 60, and loved every minute of it. In those days life was completely different as a GP. I was often on call, visiting my patients at night and would give my personal number to those at the very end of life so I could support the family. Now GPs have no time to think, it's so difficult for them now, and Covid has not helped at all."

Whilst at Mayford, Hilary decided to become involved with the Macmillan team, and was funded by them for two sessions a week. This worked well, as she was part time at the surgery.

"At the time, for the families caring for loved ones, life was so very difficult in many ways," she says. "They were given prescriptions and had to run around to different places trying to get the right medication. We came up with a system of pre-emptive prescribing, by developing drug boxes for the patient's home. Also, we encouraged the local chemist to keep in the appropriate drugs, which made it much easier for families to obtain the medication required. My job was to go round local practices in Hambleton and Richmond to encourage them to take up this scheme. Also we developed the Gold Standard Framework, a system which highlighted palliative care patients in the practices as a special patients, so they could hopefully be dealt with in a speedy way."

When Macmillan chose not to continue with funding, Hilary found further money, and as she was near retirement age, she split the job with another doctor who could take over on her retirement.

Hilary Enevoldson, third from the left

In the late 1990s whilst still an active GP, Hilary became a trustee of the charity Herriot Hospice Homecare. She was chair when it merged with St Michael's Hospice in Harrogate, and together with the chair of St Michael's, they merged the homecare service, and the hospice to provide the first service of its kind in the area; offering both home and hospice care with a bereavement service all linked together.

Services for all ages and situations are offered, such as going into schools to counsel children, where there has been a death within the school. Recently this service has been involved in working with a whole community.

"It feels sometimes like we are on the front line," says Hilary. "We also offer counselling to the police, fire brigade, NHS and other services, responding to a crisis immediately, wherever and whenever we are needed."

Hilary naturally became involved in the initiative Herriot Hospice Homecare@The Lambert, where, headed by ambassador, Dr Rosie Page, daughter of writer James Herriot (Alf Wight), fundraisers have worked to transform the small cottage hospital in Thirsk into a palliative care base with bereavement services.

"I think people are sometimes afraid of the word hospice, but they are not sad places to be," she says. "They are really calming and supportive and we do have fun sometimes. The Lambert will be such a lovely space and will contain a hub where people from all over the area can meet for coffee and talk, and get advice. There will be a welcome here."

In her busy life, Hilary has managed to bring up three children, and looking back on her life as a doctor, she says she loved her work, and adds: "Working in a rural area it could sometimes be tricky finding where we needed to be in the dark. I got a call quite late one night and I asked the caller to leave all the lights on and open the door and curtains so I could see which house it was, within a row of cottages. I found it easily and walked up the stairs to the bedroom with my bag. Two people were sitting up in bed and I said 'hello', and opened my bag, and wondered why they looked at me strangely. Apparently, I was in the wrong house and they were just waiting for someone to come home!"

Rosie Page and Hilary have been friends for many years, and GP colleagues.

Read more: Growing up with James Herriot and the lasting legacy of All Creatures Great and Small

"I worked in Thirsk, she was in Northallerton," says Rosie. "When she joined Herriot Hospice Homecare as a trustee, I came to like and admire her more and more. She has always been a very hands-on trustee and volunteer, giving up much of her time to attend events and meetings. She has an impressive knowledge of the palliative care sector, an understanding of financial affairs, and a shrewd business acumen, all of which are necessary to chair the many executive committee meetings as efficiently as she has. She has contributed hugely to the success and progress of Herriot Hospice Homecare and continues to do so. Just as importantly, she has an empathy with patients, and exudes warmth and good humour. On a personal note, she has become a much valued friend."

Looking back on her life, Hilary adds: "I hope I have managed to make a difference to some people's lives. I have tried to make a sad time better than it could have been. A day didn't go by when I didn't enjoy my job. There was nothing else I would have preferred to do."