AFTER a long and dedicated career, the time has come for Doctor Roy Scheepers to hang up his stethoscope. Doctor Scheepers has served the Wingham community as a general practitioner for almost 39 years and has recently retired.
Dr Scheepers and his wife of more than 42 years, Lynette, consider themselves lucky to have moved to Wingham. The couple first came to Wingham from South Africa with their nine-month-old child in the 1970s. Initially the plan was to stay for Roy’s one month locum position then move on and decide where to settle.
However Wingham wove its magic and the small family felt at home straight away.
“Everyone was so welcoming and warm, we were very homesick and they pulled us through,” Lynette said.
Lynette has eagerly waited for the day when she could have Roy all to herself. He has also always juggled professional and family life which has allowed him to offer the best care to his patients. She tells of a time when the two were enjoying an anniversary dinner when Roy was called away for the night to an emergency premature birth. It was this type of dedication and care that she respects him for.
“I have shared him with patients for a long time, so I’m happy to have him to myself,” Lynette said.
Roy has settled into retired life well considering the fact he describes his life as always being very regimented and himself as constantly living by the clock.
He has begun to enjoy sleep-ins and has developed an increasing interest in plants, building his own greenhouse.
“I also have an ailing golf handicap in need of resuscitating,” he joked.
The couple have regularly visited South Africa through the years to visit family members but hope to start travelling to see more of Australia.
What Roy and Lynette hope for most of all is good health. Both have battled their own health issues with Lynette diagnosed and treated for cancer of the tongue in 2010.
“It’s different to be on the other side of the equation,” Roy said reflecting on his experiences of being on the receiving end of bad news.
Dr Scheepers has built wonderful relationships with all the doctors he has worked with through the years.
He shared the surgery with Dr Ian Sutherland for 17 years and Dr Alan Love for 35 and in that time, never had one written agreement prepared. It was all based on a handshake and trust.
He was also fortunate to have consistent, long standing staff with Margo Moore working at the surgery for 20 years, and Kerrie Morris for 18. Some patients travelled from as far as Harrington, Comboyne and Taree to be a patient at Wingham because the staff and the doctors knew them and there was always consistency.
People have always been Dr Scheepers passion, which impelled him to become a general practitioner in the first place.
“My hobby is medicine, but people have always been my career,” he said.
Although Roy will miss his patients, many becoming good friends over the years, he doesn’t regret leaving medicine at a time when, like many other industries, is overwhelmed with government controls.
He explains that while plenty of changes have been for the better, maintaining professional standards, increasing red tape and paper work have simply taken up valuable time and taken away spontaneous decisions.
What also may not be missed are the events that go with the territory of being a doctor. He has plenty of stories about people eager to show him their ailments, often when relaxing out to dinner or grocery shopping.
Roy was overwhelmed with the gifts that flowed in the weeks before his retirement. Each day he would bring home presents and cards from his appreciative patients which eventually filled the entire dining table.
“It’s very satisfying to know that people have respected and appreciated you. You can’t have a better reward than that,” Roy said.
Leaving the area to live elsewhere is something that hasn’t crossed their minds. They believe they have become part of the community and this is where they belong.
Roy looks forward to spending time with his three children, five granddaughters and brand new grandson.
“The qualities that attracted me to Roy from the start were his high principles and the fact he is caring, loving and dedicated. I’m sure many patients would agree with me,” Lynette said.
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