Drs David Horsman, Paul Cummings
Laura Steene & Amrita Amin

151 St Helen's Road, Swansea SA1 4DF
Telephone 01792 476576
Fax 01792 301136

OPEN 8.30AM UNTIL 5.30PM MONDAY TO FRIDAY
(SURGERY DOOR CLOSES FOR LUNCH 12 NOON UNTIL 1.00PM
THE TELEPHONE ANSWERING MACHINE WILL BE ON
BETWEEN THESE TIMES FOR URGENT CALLS TO THE DOCTOR)
FOR EMERGENCIES WHEN SURGERY IS CLOSED TELEPHONE: 476576
(PLEASE NOTE: TELEPHONE CALLS TO A DOCTOR MAY BE RECORDED)

This website has been designed to tell you about the practice and the services that we offer. Please read it carefully. We trust that you will find it helpful and informative.

WELCOME TO THE PRACTICE

We hope that the information in this site will help you to get the best possible healthcare from our practice team. You will find information about the services provided by us, both for your care when you are ill and also for preventative healthcare. Please help us to provide you with a friendly and efficient service.

PRACTICE HISTORY

1996 marked the centenary of this practice. We believe this is the oldest practice in Swansea. It was founded by Dr Horatio Rawlings in the Old Northampton Place (now Kingsway). Home visits were then carried out in horse-drawn vehicles. In 1908 Dr Rawlings bought Llwyneithen, a large Victorian house in St Helen's Road, where the practice has stayed ever since. The rear of the house provided stables and these were demolished with regret as late as 1983 to make way for our modernised extension.

Descendants of Dr Rawlings still remain as valued patients of the practice.

In 1922 Dr Rawlings was joined by Dr James Robertson, a Scot, who is remembered still by many of our older patients for his jovial personality. Dr Robertson qualified in 1910 from Aberdeen University. He served during the First World War as a medical officer and was awarded the Military Cross. In 1930 Dr Iorwerth Martin joined the practice from Swansea General Hospital. Dr Martin is remembered by many patients as the person who "brought them into the world". He continued his interests in ENT and used to take tonsils out on the kitchen tables of the Sandfields. He and his wife Doris and their family lived for many years in the top two floors above the surgery. After retiring in 1975 they moved to Sketty. In 1998 they moved to Kent to be near their daughter. By then they were both well into their 90s.

After the Second World War the inception of the National Health Service took place. The practice expanded with the arrival of Dr David Rees who had served during the war as an RAF navigator. Subsequently, he had many distinguished years in the Territorial Army. He left the practice in 1979 to become a full-time hospital consultant.

Dr Gwyn Howells joined the practice in 1958 on the retirement of Dr Robertson. Dr Howells had worked at Swansea General Hospital and had served in the Royal Navy. He worked as a full-time GP until 1979 when he took up a part-time appointment in mental handicap. This interest developed greatly over the years and he has become well known in the academic field of mental handicap, contributing to learned magazines, textbooks and in demand as an international lecturer. He retired from the practice in May 1996.

In 1970 the practice grew to four partners with the arrival of Dr Allan Hawkins. He left in 1986 to enter single-handed practice in Brynmill. Dr Jamih Nowak, who grew up and went to school in Swansea, started with us in 1987. He had considerable interests and skills in a variety of complementary medicine disciplines. Dr Nowak retired in 2004. The current team consists of Dr David Horsman, Dr Paul Cummings, Dr Laura Steene and Dr Amrita Amin. Dr Horsman joined the practice in 1975 when Dr Martin retired. He grew up in Surrey, went to The Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London and trained as a GP in Swindon. He claims to be a naturalised Welshman since joining the Dunvant Male Voice Choir! He is married to a Welsh-speaking wife and has three grown-up children.

Dr Cummings, a native of North Wales, joined the practice in 1979. He is our computer expert and a qualified pilot. He also enjoys golf. He is married with two children.

We were delighted, in June 1996, to welcome Dr Laura Steene as our first lady doctor. Dr Steene travelled extensively with her family as a child. She trained in Cardiff and had extensive experience in general practice before joining us here at St Helen's Road. Dr Amin joined the practice in November 2004 on the retirement of Dr Nowak. Our team of doctors is complemented by a happy team of receptionists and nurses headed by our practice manager, John Williams. The aim of our entire staff is to provide our patients with a caring, competent, up-to-date and friendly service.