Care Group has been a part of Tower Hamlets for more than 10 years now and local GP Dr Phillip Bennett-Richards has been living and working in the borough since the 1980s and a partner at Aberfeldy practice for more than 20 years. He’s a true advocate of the borough and took Care Group staff on a tour of the area.
We started the tour by meeting at the iconic clock tower at Chrisp Street Market built, we’re told, during the Festival of Britain 1951. We walked through the market stalls and local businesses which include some historic pie and mash shops, one of which Dr Phil proudly claimed to own a t-shirt from. Hannah Spiring, who works in our Health Visiting team also mentioned to colleagues that, “If you’re trying to find a local mother for a health visit but she's not home, odds are they can be found at this market.”
The surrounding homes were some of the first built after the second world war. There was a special mention of Balfron Tower, a nearby brutalist structure built in the sixties by architect Earnő Goldfinger. Goldfinger inspired the infamous James Bond villain of the same name written by Ian Fleming, who took issue with a home built by the architect near the author’s home.
Next, we stepped into ‘Call the Midwife’ territory. Stopping near locations where the real nurses behind the BBC series would have lived and worked. Poplar Hospital has since been demolished with the chimney stack being the last remaining structure of the building left standing.
Finally, onto the history of the GP Practice itself. We called into the ‘Sistine Chapel’ of Tower Hamlets, Saint Nicholas Church on Aberfeldy Street. The church boasts a full ceiling artwork that was repurposed, again from the Festival of Britain 1951. The Aberfeldy GP Practice used to be next to this church as they had sold a building to the NHS.
The practice has since move to a new location in the Aberfeldy estate. Upon opening at the new site, the signage accidentally had the doctor's home phone number. A novel way to get a GP appointment but has since been corrected. A pharmacy and Poplar HARCA community centre are also based at the estate supporting access to additional services.
These walks are part of building connections within our local community to better understand residents’ experiences and serve their healthcare needs.
