When I’m sixty-four, a summer farewell from Dr Pat

In summer of this year (2022), I’ve made the decision to retire as Medical Director at CHAS after nearly 40 years of working as a doctor. This has by no means been an easy decision and has taken two years of planning and many discussions with my family and colleagues.

I have spent 26 years with CHAS; helping children with life-shortening conditions and their families and helping ensure that no one faces the death of their child alone. Before that, I was in hospital and General Practice posts, although there was some overlap between “GP-land” and CHAS. Initially, my work with CHAS was on a part-time basis, but it has been full-time since 2006. I have met so many children and their families and it has been a privilege to work and walk with them as part of the CHAS team that has supported them. There have been many, many moments to remember, but so often these have been confidential so I cannot easily recount them here.

So, to mark my time at CHAS, I aim to run or walk (or simply survive!) 64 miles this summer. A very poignant number might I add… I was brought up near Liverpool, and so I remember many of the Beatles’ songs as they came out in the sixties. As I’m approaching retirement, ‘When I’m sixty-four’ is now most relevant, and curiously the total number of miles I’m running add up to 64. It was meant to be!

I’ll be competing in the:

• Loch Leven Half-Marathon – 14 May 2022 – 13 miles
• Edinburgh Marathon – 29 May 2022 – 26 miles
• Ben Nevis Night Climb – 3 September 2022 – 12 miles
• Great North Run – 12 September 2022 – 13 miles

It has often sometimes become customary to offer gifts when colleagues or carers retire or leave their posts. May I respectfully ask you NOT to do this, but instead write me a note or a card, and then consider sponsoring “Dr Pat’s 64” which I would love to become “Our 64”. I propose trying to raise monies for both:

• Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) – for its work across Scotland with children with palliative needs and their families in their own homes, in the two children’s hospices or in children’s hospitals and wards across the country.
• Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) – for its work across the world in terms of supporting medical care in challenging environments, and there is currently at least one in the news multiple times per day.

I have opened a Just Giving page, so may I respectfully ask you to consider sponsorship of “Dr Pat’s 64” for CHAS and MSF! I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated on my training and progress moving forward. Look out for more from me in the months and weeks leading to my retirement!

Very best wishes,

Dr Pat Carragher