Adrian Dalton 1952-2019

It is with great sadness that I write to announce that Dr Adrian Dalton has died this August 2019 after a battle with cancer at the age of 67.  He was a partner at the surgery from 1982 until he retired in 2012 after a 30-year career as a family GP, dedicated to the villages he served.  For me, he was my friend and mentor.  For nearly 10 years he and the then senior partner, Dr Wyn Parry-Williams, provided medical cover on a continuous basis, working every other night and weekend!  During that time, they moved the surgery to its present site, bringing what at the time was state of the art facilities to the village.  When I arrived, I was shown great kindness and given plenty of hand holding as I found my way as a young GP.  I was shown, by Adrian, the value of family medicine and the joy of long-term continuity of care stretching across generations.

Adrian combined his caring nature with business skills, drive and ambition which he put into making sure the services provided at the then Randolph Medical Centre were the best we could give.  Meanwhile, he ran obstetric clinics at the hospital, worked for the Out of Hours service, developed a special interest in diabetic and end of life care, and became Chairman of Windsor Primary Care Group.  We worked in adjacent offices for 22 years, sharing almost every happy and sad event that can occur together in that time.

At the same time, he was always a dedicated family man and a Datchet man.  Adrian lived in Montagu Road and being hugely practical he built his own home extension and loved the allotment he ran with Helen his wife.  Many of us will have purchased the spare produce which he sold from the front wall of his home, giving the proceeds entirely to charity by means of an honesty box.  He and Helen ran a stall for many years at the village fete and he even built many of the games played there.  All of this harks back to simpler times, and Adrian was a gentle and incredibly fair-minded soul who dispensed such great advice, that it is now going to be hard for me to imagine who to ask!

Adrian was years ahead of his time when it came to patient participation in the running of Datchet Health Centre, and founded one of the nation’s first Patient Groups, nurturing it to become a strong voice in the community, representing your views and forcing the medical services to respond to your needs. He also set up the Health Centre Walking Group to encourage activity and community spirit - still going strong.

Adrian has two loving children who went to St Mary’s, then to Grammar School in Slough and both excelled at university. He has two small grandchildren in whom he can be seen everyday, which is a great comfort to the family.  His loving wife Helen survives him, and he never took for granted the incredible support she gave him in every aspect of his life.

I met with Adrian regularly during his illness and I learned that he was intensely private, that he really did not want anyone’s pity, and he told me clearly that he wasn’t afraid of dying. He will of course be greatly missed by his family, his friends and colleagues, but also, I sense by many of you - his patients whose lives will have been touched by his work.  Personally, I will miss blaming him for any unpleasant smells down our corridor and our monthly catch up for a pint at the Stag!  May he rest in peace.

If you would like to share your memories of Adrian, there is a memorial book at the front desk at the Surgery. I’m certain this will be a great comfort to his family.