A HUSBAND and wife GP team have retiring from their Ilminster surgery after more than 27 years.

Doctors Jill and Alan Wilson joined Summervale Surgery together, and after a farewell party with staff, have left together.

The couple first moved to the area from Plymouth in 1992, initially starting with a job share at Summervale Surgery.

Talking about some of the changes during their time at Summervale, Jill said: “One of the things I have been very proud of in my time at Summervale is creating our really well thought of training practice.

“We have been running that for about 12 years, and it will be ongoing now we have left as two younger chaps have taken over.”

Perhaps the biggest change for the surgery was leaving the previous building, which was subsequently knocked down and replaced with houses, and moving to the new medical centre on Canal Way.

An initial reason why the Wilson’s moved in Ilminster was that Summervale would allow the couple to work a time share.

Since then, the pair have both become key figures in the Somerset medical scene, and become portfolio GPs - known for holding multiple roles.

In addition to the training facilities at Summervale, Jill - who has a masters in education - has also run a number of schemes at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton.

Before turning his hand to general practitioner work, Alan spent a lot of time in developing his career in hospitals.

After moving to Somerset, he took up a doctor/politican role, sitting on the Local Medical Committee and working as the primary care dermatologist based out of Chard Hospital.

Jill added: “Alan has been a really solid rock at the practice and we have all relied on his wisdom for complex medical issues.

“He has always been very helpful and has reputation as someone you can turn to for anything.”

Now Alan is retiring completely, while Jill is slowly winding down her other positions.

Jill added: “We had a really friendly, supportive team at Summervale, and they gave us a really great send off.

“They also gave us books full of goodbyes from patients, and we would like to thank everybody for their well wishes.”

The Wilson doctors have now been married for 33 years.

The pair moved to Ilminster with one daughter, Ellie now 28, and two more soon followed - Lottie, 25, and Flora, 23.

And this won’t be the end of the medical line for the Wilson family, which started with Alan’s father as a doctor as well.

Lottie and Flora are both in their final years as medical students, while Ellie became a lawyer.