Secretary at The Hereward Practice in Bourne clocks up 25 years’ service

A woman who helps patients to stay in touch with their GP and healthcare needs has clocked up 25 years’ service.

Anne-Marie Hawkins is lead secretary at The Hereward Practice in Bourne, having started as a receptionist.

During the past quarter century technology and demand for health services have changed at the surgery.

She said: “The work is now completely different. In the old days we used to send the post at the end of the week and now we are emailing and text messaging patients every day, and the volume of work has increased massively.

“Over the years there has been a great deal of flexibility in the role, which has helped enormously, particularly when my children were young.”

Anne-Marie chose an eternity ring as a gift to mark her time at the practice.

She added: “I have absorbed so much knowledge along the way and that has kept me here.

“As I have been here for so long, people will ask me about things and I usually can guide them in the right way.

“We work really well together as a team and I really enjoyed my time here.

“We are lucky to have some really long-serving members of staff and we have all worked hard to make The Hereward Practice what it is today, with patient care at the heart of it all.”