The new GP at Buckingham’s North End Surgery lives in Twyford and comes from a medical family.
Dr Catherine Walters, aged 32, who started work as a partner at the practice last week, has been brought in to replace Dr Roger Harrington, who is retiring at the end of March after nearly 37 years.
Dr Walters said: “I’m taking over Dr Harrington’s patients so it’s great he can introduce me to all his patients and give me their background.”
Dr Walters, who grew up in Bushey, Herts, and studied at Leeds University, was previously a GP in Marlow. Her father and her great-grandfather were both GPs.
She moved to Twyford with husband Owain and sons Gethin, aged two, and Gwillym, 10 months, in February.
She said: “We wanted to live more in the country, somewhere a bit more rural for the boys to grow up in. I was just lucky that the partnership came up.”
Dr Walters, who works four days a week at the Buckingham surgery, has a specialist interest in women’s health and sexual health.
She said her first impressions of the practice had been very favourable.
“All the staff are very friendly and it’s very well-organised.
“We had a practice meeting on Monday and it’s very much patient-centred, which is very nice and encouraging to see nowadays.”
Executive partner at the surgery, Dr Jonathan Pryse, said: “We are delighted that Catherine is joining us, and we are confident that she will enable us to build on the quality of care that we offer our patients.
“She will be taking over from Dr Harrington, as he is due to retire in March 2013, and we felt it was important to have an overlap period for the next six months to smoothe this transition.
“This will also help with the availability of appointments. Indeed, following a recent survey by our excellent Patient Engagement Group, we have started a further review to see how we can continue to improve our patients’ access to healthcare within the current NHS resources.”