Broadmayne Surgery

There has been a doctor’s surgery in the village for many years. In the 1920’s it was held in a room at Church Farm which is opposite the village church and was the home of the grandparents of Mrs Betty Voss. Dr Anderson and Dr Broadwey used to come from Winfrith on one day each week arriving by pony and trap. In those days, practices were organised less on a regional basis than now and these doctors treated patients as far away as Dorchester. This would seem to be a very inefficient arrangement in view of the time spent in travelling. Later on the surgery moved to one of two cottages, now demolished, which were at right angles to Main Street between the present village stores and the cross roads.

Before the war Miss Bushrod and Miss Grimes, who lived at No 36 Main Street, provided accommodation for both a surgery and the post office. These were held in two downstairs rooms and the waiting room was a corridor between the two, patients having to mingle with post office customers until their turn came. Dr Anderson came twice each week and he was joined by Dr Philip Boucher who lived at Winfrith and by Dr Carnegie Brown. Dr Boucher practised alone throughout the war, Dr Anderson having retired and Dr Carnegie Brown having joined the Forces. Broadmayne remained a part-time branch surgery of the Wool practice although Dr Boucher was in full time practice and available on call at all times. In 1948 he was joined by a partner, Dr Tom Bryan who had been a medical missionary in Rwanda and was a keen sportsman with a reputation for being a very competent cricketer.

Dr Tony Bowering with surgery staff and health visitors

Of course, before the introduction of the National Health Service one had to pay for medical care and treatment, but doctors frequently adjusted their charges to suit the ability of their patients to pay. Later there were three doctors in the practice, as Dr John Cole arrived in 1960. Dr Bryan retired in 1968 to be replaced by Dr Jeremy Boucher who joined his father and this was the situation until a reorganisation on the retirement of Dr Philip Boucher in 1976. At that time, Broadmayne ceased to be a branch of the Wool practice as Dr Jeremy Boucher set up his own independent practice in the village on a full-time basis, linked to Wool only in that they provided emergency cover for each other. The present surgery building was provided for the village through the generosity of the Misses Rosamund and Monica Cross who lived in Broadmayne House. In the entrance corridor there is a plaque, dated 1981, commemorating the opening of the new surgery and a photograph of the two ladies. Dr Jeremy Boucher retired in 1986 when the present doctor, Dr Tony Bowering, arrived. He has some 1,300 patients on his register living in Dorchester, Weymouth, Wool, Owermoigne, Crossways, West Knighton and Poxwell, as well as Broadmayne. In addition to the doctor’s consultations, the practice offers minor surgery, cryo-surgery, injections, immunisations and vaccinations, dressings and confidential advice. There is also a dispensing service of which over 99% of patients take advantage. In order to offer all these services, the staff includes a practice manager, two practice nurses, a receptionist and a dispenser in addition to the doctor. Dr Bowering has recently joined the D-Doc organisation through which doctors in the Dorchester area provide mutual cover. The surgery has a consulting room, a dispensary, a treatment room and a small waiting room but is becoming inadequate for the needs of modern medical care and there is insufficient space for it to be extended. There are plans to move to a new, larger building which it is hoped to site off Osmington Drove, opposite High Trees.

V.G.Small