Dr Alison Clarke

Died July 22, 2013

Alison Clarke, who has died at the age of 96, was a doctor who settled in Glasgow just before the start of the NHS and spent her working life in general practice in the city.

Her parents were Jamaican but work took them to various countries, where their three daughters were born, the first in Jamaica, the second in Nigeria and the third, Alison, in England. All, however, grew up on the island, attending schools in the British tradition.

In 1936, Alison won a scholarship to study medicine in the UK, and Aberdeen University was chosen as the cheapest option for the long course. A family friend, primary school teacher Rena Thomson, invited the student to spend holidays in Ayrshire and became accepted as an honorary aunt.

Dr Clarke loved Scotland and never yearned to return to the West Indian sun. When she qualified in 1941, she took various hospital jobs before deciding to go into general practice, inspired by the example of a colleague who seemed able to tell at a glance just how seriously ill a patient was.

In 1947, she seized the opportunity to take over a single-handed practice in Glasgow. As a GP on her own, she needed someone at home to answer the phone, but Miss Thomson chose to take early retirement and ran the household until her death in an accident in 1980.

Shortly after the establishment of the NHS, there were moves to give GPs the same professional status as physicians and surgeons, with the establishment of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1952. Dr Clarke was one of the founder members and a keen supporter of its activities.

A year later she became involved in a pioneering course for young doctors planning to enter general practice: each would spend three months shadowing her before completing the year working independently with the constant backup of experience. Her last student was Dr Joan Harvey, who went on to become a partner in the Radnor Street practice in 1965.

Dr Clarke also worked with the student health service at Glasgow University and was invited to address undergraduates as part of their medical course. Her belief that if you take time with people you won't have them coming back was passed on to successive generations of GPs.

In 1977 the household moved from the Victorian villa in Maryhill to a bungalow in Skelmorlie in preparation for Dr Clarke's retiral in 1981. Always an enthusiastic gardener, she spent the next 30 years perfecting the grounds, enjoying the changing views of the Clyde, entertaining friends, travelling and raising funds for the local Ardgowan Hospice.

Her other great love was music and it was only in the last two years that she missed her regular visits to the Edinburgh Festival and attendance at Scottish Opera's study days.

Her funeral brought together local people and visitors from three continents, family connections and friends who shared a warm affection as well as respect for a remarkable woman who had devoted her long life to her adopted country and profession.