Practice History
The practice was started by Dr. Norbert Glas, one of the doctors who attended Rudolf Steiner’s medical lectures, who came to England in 1930’s from Austria. He was able to register with the General Medical Council and after first working with another Gloucester GP, started his practice in Tuffley, Gloucester. With the start of the Health Service in the late 1940’s it became an NHS practice. He bought the premises in 10 Tuffley Lane which up until the completion of the new building in Stroud in 1998, remained the official address of the practice.
Dr. Norbert Glas
He developed the whole of Gannicox House as the 'New Nursing Home' and treated a wide variety of patients, including many cancer patients and older patients requiring longer term nursing care. While visiting patients at the nursing home after his morning surgery, for their convenience he began to see patients from the Stroud locality in Gannicox . Gradually he increased his surgeries until he was seeing patients daily both in Tuffley and at Gannicox. Over the years the number of patients in the Stroud area has increased far more rapidly than the number in Gloucester , so that at present around two thirds of the 3650 patients live nearer the Stroud surgery than the Tuffley surgery.
Dr. Marianne Allan joined Dr. Glas in 1979, first as an assistant and later took over the practice on his retirement although he continued to do occasional surgeries right up until the time of his death. Both 10 Tuffley Lane and East Gannicox were privately owned by Norbert Glas, who sold them on his retirement. St. Luke’s Trust was founded to enable raising of funds for the purchase of Gannicox.
Dr. Marianne Allan
Marianne invited Ann Preston to become the first receptionist. A part-time practice nurse was then taken on. The practice continued to grow and expand - From 1979 until the present the practice has grown more or less steadily at about 6% per year, increasing from 1,350 patients in 1979 to 1,950 patients in 1990, and 3,450 in 2003.
The practice was joined by the therapists, first Ursula Browning and Fiona McDonough in 1985 with eurythmy (movement) therapy and massage, and then later by a counsellor and art therapist.
St. Luke's Medical Centre