COLLEAGUES came together to celebrate the career of consultant gastroenterologist Dr Stirling Pugh as he retired after 30 years at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, at the age of 69 years.
He began his long stint at Musgrove, run by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, on July 1, 1994, as a consultant gastroenterologist, but spent the latter years of his career performing endoscopies.
Dr Pugh said: “During my time, I have taken on a lot of roles, including cancer lead, endoscopy lead, and also clinical director for medicine for a few years.
“I am particularly proud of how our gastroenterology and endoscopy department has grown, and I am honoured to say I was one of the first therapeutic endoscopists here, and now we are a magnificent endoscopy hospital.
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“We also have strong nutrition, inflammatory bowel disease, and liver disease services.
“The practice of medicine has changed a lot during my time.
“When I first came here, I worked closely with a colleague, who has also recently retired, Mr Ian Eyre-brook, and he would do the cancer esophagectomies and pancreatic cancer surgery.
“We are still able to offer a fantastic diagnostic service and a therapeutic endoscopy service, and the team is looking forward to moving into the new surgical centre next year.
“But I am most proud of my fellow colleagues, doctors, and nurses, and while there are way too many to name individually, they have all been fantastic over the years, and it shows that we have got succession planning right.”
Musgrove consultant gastroenterologist Dr Emma Wesley said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Stirling over the years, he has been a fantastic mentor to me and many others.
“I first met him when I was a registrar doing question writing for the Royal College of Physicians examinations, and his enthusiasm and friendliness was one of the main reasons I later chose to work at Musgrove.
“The decisions he and others made over the years have made a lasting positive impact on our team and the service we are able to offer the patients of Somerset.”