Stamford Hill GP scoops top medical award - The Jewish Chronicle

A “much-loved” Stamford Hill GP, who is a leading educator on how to care for the Charedi community, has been given an award in recognition of his long-standing services to general practice and the Jewish community.

A resident of the area since birth, Dr Joseph Spitzer, 69, has, for the past four decades, been serving the local community, where a “substantial portion” of his patients are strictly Orthodox.

As one of the few Yiddish-speaking NHS GPs in the country, Spitzer’s has made it his “life’s work” to inform others in his profession via books, seminars and lectures on how to effectively and sensitively care for the Charedi community.

He told the JC: “When dealing with patients who come from a different cultural or religious upbringing, the most important thing is to make a concerted effort to try and understand them, their sensitivities and concerns. That is, I think, the most important part of providing good quality medical care, and it is particularly true for the Charedi community.”

He said hospitals and clinics can quite often demonstrate cultural insensitivity by, for example, scheduling appointments for the community on Friday afternoons, or by not prescribing rabbinically approved kosher medicine.

Spitzer is the author of A Guide to the Orthodox Jewish Way of Life for Healthcare Professionals and Caring for Jewish Patients, two books used both locally and countrywide to inform healthcare workers about how to engage sensitively with the Jewish community.

Over the years, Spitzer has tried to change the attitude of hundreds of strictly Orthodox patients towards preventative care through education. Unlike the wider British population, who are frequently reminded, via adverts, to undertake preventative care such as cancer screenings, such messaging less frequently penetrates the Charedi community.

“Preventative care doesn’t take a high priority in the lives of Charedim. “They’re really not desperately good at that.” Spitzer said.

“So, a lot my energy I’ve put in has been to try and increase immunisation uptake within the community, and I have done my best to emphasise the importance of vaccines in parents, community and educational leaders in the hope they can instil that in the younger generation.”

Besides working in general practice from the Cranwich Road Surgery, Spitzer has taught several generations of medical students from Barts and the Royal London Medical School at Queen Mary University of London and volunteers as the resident doctor on Camp Simcha retreats. He also served for two years as section president of general practice at the Royal Society of Medicine.

Earlier this month, Spitzer was presented with a prestigious award for his services during the Londonwide Local Medical Committee’s awards ceremony held in Parliament. He was “very honoured” to learn he had won.

“Working as a GP is very fulfilling,” he said. “It can be tremendously hard work and very long hours, but it is truly fulfilling.”

Spitzer was nominated for the award by colleagues, including a nurse at the surgery and practice manager, Geetha Rajah.

Chaya Factor, who works at Cranwich Road Surgery as an advanced health practitioner, said that working with Spitzer was “an absolute privilege” and the award was “so well deserved”.

“I have the utmost respect for Dr Spitzer, for all the incredible work he does,” she said. “He has encouraged Charedi women like myself to continuously push ourselves to achieve more, and to see ourselves as part of the NHS workforce.”

A patient of Spitzer’s belonging to the strictly Orthodox community said he was “always kind and sensitive” to the community and their needs, adding: “He is much loved and appreciated.”

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Dr Spitzer

Stamford Hill