Royton & Crompton Family Practice(Oldham)

A Royton branch surgery was opened in the late 1950s and operated from a terraced house on Rochdale Road, approximately opposite the Town Hall. Redevelopment of Royton town centre necessitated relocation into temporary Portakabin-style accommodation in 1975. This was situated on the site which is now occupied by another local GP practice.

In 1979 the existing Royton Health Centre was opened, and the practice moved in, together with two other practices into what seems now very cramped accommodation at the Town Hall end of the building.

Meanwhile, the Shaw arm of the practice, which, at the time was the main practice, containing the bulk of the patients, moved into the newly built Crompton Health Centre in the early 1970s.

Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, the Royton arm of the practice grew quickly and by 2000 there were more patients at Royton than at Shaw.

After several years’ deliberation, it was felt that, for the sake of efficiency, the practice had to move to one site. It emerged that this would only be feasible at Royton; hence the move to the site at the Radcliffe Street-end of Royton Health Centre in 2005. It as certainly with considerable regret that the practice severed links with Shaw, after so many years, although it is gratifying that so many patients from Shaw and High Crompton have remained loyal to the practice, despite the move.

In December 2006, Dr Zubair Ahmad and his 2000+ patients from the Market Square Surgery joined the practice. Doctors, staff and patients will probably remember this merger as a time of considerable upheaval with temporary chaos caused mainly by the need to change and integrate the computer systems. The combined practice, now the largest in the town, has been searching for better premises for several years, well-aware of the severe limitations of the temporary arrangements at Royton Health Centre. Finally, in October 2010, the practice was able to move into the new Royton Health and Wellbeing Centre, Park Street, Royton, a magnificent modern building, well-equipped for the provision of medical services in the 21st century.

Over the years, several doctors have come and gone. Dr Bayman retired from the practice in 2004 after serving 35years.

Dr Caroline Walker worked in the practice for several years in the 1990s before moving to a surgery on her doorstep in Middleton. Longstanding patients may also remember Dr Devine and Dr Huntley who worked in the practice for short periods in the late 1960s and mid-1970s respectively.