2026 marks the centenary of the establishment of the Partnership of Arlington Road Medical Practice, its history makes an interesting read and demonstrates a Practice that has grown and developed over time to meet the changing needs of healthcare in an ever changing world.

The Practice was started by Dr Ethel Downing (pictured on the right) in 1926 initially at 6 Old Orchard Road with a branch surgery at 236 Seaside, the home of a Mrs Cook.

In 1930 Dr Hebe (Elfreda) Coghill joined Dr Downing at 6 Old Orchard Road and later in the 1930’s they were also joined by Dr Bridget Gurney.  A partnership of 3 female GP’s would be unusual today but must have been unique in the early 1900’s!

World War II commenced and bombing in Old Orchard Road in 1939 forced the Partnership to move temporarily to 9 Milton Crescent.  The following year, in 1940, Dr Coghill took a job as Assistant Schools Medical Officer in Cornwall until 1945 and Dr Gurney joined the Royal Army Medical Corps.

In 1942 Dr Downing moved back to practice from 6 Old Orchard Road due to bombing in Milton Crescent then in 1946 Dr Coghill rejoined Dr Downing and they began practicing from the ground floor of our current site at 1 Arlington Road.  The Partnership has therefore been at our current site for 80 years.  1 Arlington Road was built in 1902 as a private residence and had 4 previous owners before being purchased by Dr Downing & Dr Coghill.

1948 saw the Birth of the NHS and the Eastbourne Herald published a list of 49 doctors and ophthalmic opticians who have accepted service under the ‘new Act’ namely the National Health Service.  Dr H B Coghill and Dr Ethel Downing are listed in this publication.

Many of our older patients will remember Rebekah Keating who joined the practice as a receptionist  in 1950, she worked for 35 years, retiring in 1985.  In 1955 Dr Harry Clarke, Dr Downing’s nephew joined the partnership.

In 1959 Dr Coghill retired after 29 years’ service and Dr Nancy Lord joined the partnership.  Dr Lord left the Practice to be married in 1967. 

During the 1960’s the Branch Surgery moved from 236 Seaside to 203 Seaside the home of a Mrs Lower.  In those days the consulting room was in the back room of the house and the patients waited in the front room!

1966 saw the retirement of the Practice’s founder, Dr Downing, who retired after 40 years’ service and Dr Iain Paterson joined the Partnership

In 1969 Dr Michael Walter joined the Partnership.  The following year the Branch Surgery at 203 Seaside closed when the Winifred Lee Health Centre opened at Wartling Road and we shared the Health Centre with Dr Craib and Partners.

We became a Training Practice in 1979 with Dr Michael Walter taking our first GP Trainee, Dr Philip Jones who went on to Practice in Bath.

At this time the Practice List size had reached 10,300 and the workload was increasing all the time.  Dr Peter Williams joined the Partnership from the RAF where he was a Squadron Leader, providing medical services to Officers, Airmen and their families.  He became a GP Trainer alongside Dr Walter in 1982.

The workload was increasing but the space we had to work from was very restricted.  In 1981 we were able to purchase the 1^st and 2^nd floor of Arlington Road and build a ground floor extension to create two additional consulting rooms.  Until that time Dr Coghill had lived in the residential flat upstairs in 1 Arlington Road.

Dr Robert Deery joined in the partnership in 1984 having previously completed his own GP Training at the Practice and later became a GP Trainer himself.

Dr Jane Lofts joined the partnership in 1988 and Dr Debra Stock (now Davison) joined in 1994, they had both previously completed their GP Training at the Practice.

In 1995 Dr Clarke retired after 40 years’ service and Dr Paul Frisby joined the partnership having previously completed his GP Training at the Practice.

Even before Dr Clarke retired we were short of space again and, after considering many other possibilities, in 1997 we were able to purchase the ground floor flat of 18 Old Orchard Road (the other half of the semi-detached house that is number 1 Arlington Road) and expanded the original extension built in 1981 across the back of both properties, massively increasing the ground floor of the Practice.

Dr Paterson retired after 33 years’ service in 1999 and Dr David Higgs joined the Partnership.  In the same year, The Winifred Lee Health Centre closed and we began to operate from one site at 1 Arlington Road.

Dr Michael Walter retired in 2002 after 33 years’ service and Dr Ilan Rajap joined the Partnership having previously completed his GP Training at Arlington Road.  Dr Pravin Jain also joined the partnership until 2005 when he left to work at another practice.

In 2010 Dr Mark Jones (current Senior Partner) joined the partnership having worked for the practice as a Salaried GP in 2009 and in 2012 became a GP Trainer himself.

The Arlington Pharmacy opened in 2013 taking up firstly 2 and then 3 of our ground floor consulting rooms.  At this time the Practice expanded into the 1^st and 2^nd floor flats of 18 Old Orchard Road, replacing the consulting rooms lost to the pharmacy on the ground floor plus 2 additional consulting rooms, including our well-equipped minor surgery room and a lift to the first floor.  Additional office space was also created on the 2^nd floor.

In 2015 Dr Iftikhar Ahmad joined the partnership having worked for the practice as a Salaried GP since 2012 and having previously completed his GP Training at the practice.  The same year Dr Rajap left the partnership to focus on his Dermatology work after 13 years’ service.

Dr Laure Berthelot-Cabaret and Dr Ben McFadden joined the partnership in 2016 having worked as Salaried GPs since 2015.  Dr McFadden had also previously completed his GP Training at the practice.

In 2018 Dr Lofts retired from the Practice after 30 years’ service and the following year both Dr Deery and Dr Davison retired after 35 & 25 years’ service respectively and Dr Higgs left the partnership after 10 years’ service.  Also in 2019 Dr Adam Zacks joined the partnership having previously completed his GP training at the practice and became a GP Trainer himself.

2020 saw Dr Grace Castronovo (now Getty) join the partnership having previously completed her GP training at the practice, Dr Getty has also become a GP Trainer.  Dr Rose Moore-Moffatt also joined the partnership having been a Salaried GP since 2019.

Dr Peter Williams retired after 42 years’ service in 2021 and Dr Iftikhar Ahmad resigned from the partnership to return to his native Pakistan.

In 2022 Dr Conor Fee joined the partnership after having previously completed his GP Training at the practice and became a GP Trainer himself.  The following year Dr Emma Pickering joined the partnership having also completed her GP training at the practice.

2025 saw the retirement of Shirley Moth.  Shirley had worked for the practice for 45 years and had been our Practice Manager for 37 years.  Dr Frisby, our then Senior Partner also retired after 30 years’ service. 

Also in 2025 we began converting our main admin offices behind reception into two additional clinical rooms and repurposed some of the rooms on the 2^nd floor to accommodate the admin staff who had moved from the ground floor.  This work was completed in early 2026 and was officially opened by local Liberal Democrat MP, Josh Babarinde.

 In 2026, 100 years on from our humble beginnings of one GP operating from 6 Old Orchard Road, we have a large team made up of…

• Seven Partners and three Salaried GPs plus a number of Speciality Trainee Doctors - at the time of publishing this history we have five Trainee Doctors (this number varies throughout the year).
• Five Advanced Practitioners
• Five Practice Nurses and three Healthcare Assistants
• Two First Contact Physiotherapists
• Three Mental Health Practitioners provided by the Emotional Wellbeing Service
• Five Clinical Pharmacists provided by our PCN
• A Business Manager, Practice Manager and two Officer Managers
• An admin team of 25 support staff

 A total of 38 clinical staff and 29 administrative staff.  We have 19 consulting rooms across two floors and a third floor for administrative staff.

Our team are very proud to be part of a legacy that dates back 100 years and strives to continue to provide and develop a service that meets the demands on the current age, to provide healthcare services to the people of Eastbourne.