Stratford GP who helped keep out of hours care available in Newham retires after 40 years

A Stratford GP is retiring after 40 years in the NHS.

Dr Ashwin Shah, from Stratford Village Surgery, has been instrumental in ensuring out of hours GP care remains available in Newham, and was recognised for his work in the 2008 New Year’s Honours List.

His decision to move to Newham in 1975 was inspired by the warm welcome he’d heard Gandhi received when arriving in Canning Town in 1931.

Two years after graduating as a doctor in India in 1973, Dr Shah came to England to train at Plaistow Hospital, before gaining a diploma in TB and respiratory disease from Cardiff University.

In 1981 he began GP training in Walthamstow, before moving to a practice in Stratford in 1982. In 1992, he ended up at Stratford Village Surgery, where he’s remained until now.

He helped found the Newham GP Co-Op, which makes sure out of hours GP care remains available for Newham’s residents and in 2010, Dr Shah was made the deputy chair of Newham’s Clinical Commissioning Group. He has also overseen the introduction of minor surgery, mobile ultrasound, counselling and physiotherapy in Newham’s GP surgeries.