Dr Richard Speed's Retirement 14 Feb 2017

Dr Richard Speed obstetrician and gynaecologist will be retiring from Tauranga hospital in April 2017 after 33 years in continuous practice.

Dr Richard Speed obstetrician and gynaecologist will be retiring from Tauranga hospital in April 2017 after 33 years in continuous practice.

When he arrived in 1983 there was no obstetric ultrasound nor operative laparoscopy service but with the help of others he set these up. For the first 10 years laparoscopic surgery was performed using eyeballing technique via the scope which was technically very challenging. However the advent of the camera made a huge difference although a  new learning curve was required.

Richard's fondest memories of that early period were the close relationships he had with GPs and midwives as a result of the shared care of obstetric patients. Unfortunately the changes to S88 around 1996 resulted in much less contact with GPs, which he misses.

While he is retiring from the hospital he will be continuing in private gynaecological practice including colposcopy prolapse surgery and general gynaecology.