Day: January 20, 2016

Tributes have been paid to the Clinical Director of Central North West London’s (CNWL) Sexual Health Services, Dr Danielle Mercey, who is leaving the NHS after more than 30 years as a doctor.

Dr Mercey, who has worked in Sexual Health Services for more than 25 years, is leaving the service today (Wednesday, January 20) to enjoy things she wants to do with husband David, including walking in Wales, running with a border collie puppy and volunteering with the homelessness charity St Mungo’s.

“I feel very lucky to be able to retire early and have an enjoyable life after a fulfilling career. I made this decision a long, long time ago – long before I knew where we would be now in terms of the current consultation,” she said.

During her 25 years, Dr Mercey has seen enormous advances in sexual health treatments but also great sadness as her career started at around the time of the HIV outbreak.

She recalled: “When I started HIV was completely untreatable and we watched patients deteriorate and die in huge numbers and we used to go to lots of patients’ funerals because no one else would go because of the stigma attached. Now it’s a lifelong condition that can be managed. To see that change in one’s professional lifetime is marvellous. I don’t think we would ever have imagined that when we first started.

“It was quite sad at times and you did feel quite helpless but it was also very exciting because of how much it galvanised and brought together researchers and scientists to help look for medications that might help, and also epidemiologists to understand the transmission of the virus.”

Developments that she was involved with during her career include the establishment of independent nurse practitioners. This was controversial in sexual health then because it meant that nurses could see patients on their own without needing a doctor to be present. Now this is standard practice.

Dr Mercey also played a role with colleagues in monitoring the spread of the HIV virus through the establishment of the first unlinked anonymous HIV testing services. This meant that researchers and epidemiologists were able to use anonymous blood samples from patients attending GU Clinics to track the spread of the virus.

“It was important to know how far it was spreading even though at the time there was little you could do to treat anyone with HIV,” she said.

“Our findings allowed us to push for more resources, for greater access to treatment and helped inform prevention campaigns to help warn people about the risks of unprotected sex.”

This led to making HIV testing part of antenatal care following the development of interventions to help reduce the risk of transmission of the virus from mother to baby. At the time this was also controversial.

The NHS is under enormous financial pressures currently, and she admits she has never seen a situation like this in SRH and GU services before.

However she is confident that under her successor Dr Simon Edwards, the service will remain outstanding.

She said: “The commissioners want us to completely redesign services. The services really will have a different look and that’s an enormous challenge but the people and the service have always risen to the challenge when they’ve been under massive pressures. Simon is so full of ideas and is so passionate about the service so I’m quite optimistic that these will still be very good services.”

She added: “I will miss my colleagues. I’ve worked with some of the most intelligent, dedicated and funny people, but this is the right time for me to leave.”

Claire Murdoch, CEO of CNWL, paid tribute to Dr Mercey at a recent Board meeting, saying: “Danielle is a wonderful doctor and has been an outstanding Clinical Director for Sexual Health services; she has displayed every feature of medical leadership that you could ask for, as the staff put it, ‘humour, leadership, inspiration and amazingness!’ Although Dr Simon Edwards is a perfect replacement, Danielle will be missed as all the best people always are, for herself; I wish her a wonderful retirement.”

Instead of a retirement gift, Dr Mercey is asking people to donate money to St Mungo’s at www.justgiving.com/DanielleMercey

“They work with the most difficult client group. These are people who’ve had awful lives and I want to do what I can to help them,” she said.