Retired GP Dr Christopher Strode, 79, recalls the days when children waved at the family doctor in the street.

He said: "The family doctor was a recognised figure in the area they practised.

They would always be out and about and always available. As a GP in Kennington in the 1950s, I really knew my patients, their families, their homes and because of that I could offer them effective care; I believe a family doctor must understand the need and the resources of the patient and give care in that context.

"I often found that my most useful insight came from a visit that was not strictly 'necessary' but which explained every- thing."

He added: "Some doctors went even further and formed personal friendships with the families they cared for, but I always but I always felt I should maintain that doctor/patient relationship, because I felt that was what they needed me to be."

Dr Strode ran his first surgery - at 96 Kennington Road - with no help other than that of his house- keeper.

He said: "There were usually two surgeries a day and people came in and waited to be seen.

"I saw the patients, answered the phone, wrote letters, filled in forms and did all the filing.

"Sadly, governments have felt the constant need to reorganise the NHS over the years, setting new targets and giving complete shake-ups.

"But I feel it isn't how you organise something; it's how you deal with the things people want which really matters. We are beginning to realise that technology cannot save us all the time and that the best chance of a long and happy life comes from social and economic improvement together with a healthy lifestyle."

Veronica Fisher, 73, qualified as a doctor at 23 and found the GP's world was very much a man's world.

She said: "I first became aware of the impending arrival of the Health Service at the age of 13, reading letters in The Times and I became aware of the strength of feeling both for and against both in the profession and among the general public.

"I am not sure how much I really understood, but it caught my interest. But this wasn't what decided me to do medicine however, more a desire to show my doctor brother (12 years older than me) that it wasn't only blokes that could do it!

"I went to St Mary's Hospital Medical School. Women students formed only 10 per cent of the intake, compared with more than 50 per cent now.

Much is written about the abuse of the Health Service when it first came in.

"True, people clamoured for glasses, wigs, dentures etc but they had not been able to afford any of these things in many cases, and had been through a time of great austerity both during and after the war.

"We moved to Oxfordshire 39 years ago when my husband took up a post as consultant physician at The Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

"I intended to return to general practice but was surprised to find that there were no women GPs in the town."

Dr Fisher did return to practice however and later, in 1976, went as assistant to Dr Michael Sheldon who had set up a Portakabin in the Horton Hospital grounds. She said: "We had only one consulting room, the secretary was also receptionist and for a while I did the cleaning.

"We were relieved when the patient numbers increased enough for us to be able to buy a house (Hightown Surgery).

"Being on call was a way of life. One Boxing Day I had 38 calls, of which I did 32, the last at 2am in the middle of a muddy field where an elderly gentleman living in a caravan was seriously ill.

"Looking back, I am very glad that I have never had to charge a patient for health care. In my opinion this puts a barrier between doctor and patient.

"I have always been a very strong supporter of the Health Service. True, it has had faults, but what large organisation does not?

"I now look at it from a patient's point of view.

"What I want, rather than too much choice, is a good local service providing for my ordinary needs."