For nearly 50 years, Dr Robert Yarrow has delivered babies, healed athletes and provided medical care to elderly patients in his role as a GP at Fairy Meadow Medical Practice.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now, at age 74 - well past the usual retirement age - he will finally stop working.
Dr Yarrow started at the Fairy Meadow practice in 1974, after he met one of the doctors there at a conference in the UK where he lived.
At the time, he said UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson had increased interest rates to about 18 per cent, meaning Dr Yarrow "could no longer afford to feed my wife and child, although I was working 200 hours a fortnight as a hospital doctor for the princely sum of about 10 pounds a week, so something had to change and that change was moving to Australia".
"So I arrived here with two children and a wife and we had a third one here and I've been in practice in this area ever since," he said.
He started out as a GP accredited to deliver babies, and was also one of the people involved in starting the sports medicine clinic which was eventually at Beaton Park.
He was also the visiting medical officer at Bulli District Hospital, and was instrumental in setting up the original palliative care ward there.
Throughout his career he has had a strong interest in sports medicine, working with Australian Rowing - which spawned from his own experience as a rower selected to go to the 1968 Olympics for England - and as the medical officer for the Wollongong Hawks basketball team.
"The basketball team and the rowing coincided because Dr Bill Webb who was the original physician for the Sydney Kings was also the principal medical officer for Rowing Australia so he and I knew each other and we did quite a lot of work together in looking after Australian rowers both in Australia and overseas, so it was all very interesting and good, which i enjoyed.
"It's been a very busy life and from my point of view very rewarding, I've met lots of terrific people from all walks of life doing all sorts of different things which has been a great pleasure."
He said he has seen great change in medical services across the region in the past 48 years, especially with the influx of specialists catering for a growing population.
The profession of general practice has also changed dramatically, he said, noting that it was currently in crisis.
"There's just not enough GPs," he said.
"Making it more financially attractive would be a help, so actually paying people in the same way that they pay specialists would be a help."
As he leaves general practice - with plans to occasionally pick up locum work to allow for other doctors to go on leave - Dr Yarrow said he was sad but grateful.
"I'd like to say a thank you to all of the patients who have come to see us," he said.
"And to all of my staff who have worked with me, and for me, for a number of years that helped make this entire practice work because you can't just do it on your own."
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.
Tareyn Varley
For the past 15 years I've been toiling away behind the scenes on story ideas, web production, headline writing, home page editing and social media management. I'm passionate about passing the mic to Illawarra residents who find themselves with no power and no voice.
For the past 15 years I've been toiling away behind the scenes on story ideas, web production, headline writing, home page editing and social media management. I'm passionate about passing the mic to Illawarra residents who find themselves with no power and no voice.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
