After two years of caring for patients at Fifth Avenue Family Practice, Dr Lorna Burn and Dr Daniel Catmull will soon return to the United Kingdom.

Originally from the UK, Lorna and Dan moved to Tauranga in January 2024 and quickly became part of the practice community. Their decision to return has been made for personal reasons, but leaving isn’t easy.

“We’ve absolutely loved our time here in New Zealand,” Lorna says. “We’ll always consider Tauranga and Fifth Avenue to be our second home. We’re very sad to be going.”

For their family – including their 13-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter – life in Aotearoa has meant embracing the outdoors, including two memorable winter ski holidays. There were also weekends spent kayaking, tramping through bush tracks, and taking on ziplining adventures above the forest canopy. It was a full immersion into the rhythm of life here.

Within the practice, both doctors experienced different but equally meaningful patient journeys. Dan stepped into the care of patients previously looked after by Dr Nick Hanna following his retirement – a transition that required trust on both sides.

“It was a real privilege to care for Nick’s patients,” Dan says. “They’re a lovely group of people, and they were very generous in opening their trust to me after having the same GP for so long.”

Lorna welcomed a new group of patients to the practice during her time here.

“I know it can be hard coming to a new practice and meeting a new GP,” she says. “I really appreciate the trust and faith patients placed in me. It’s been a privilege to look after them over these two years.”

General practice is built on relationships, and while it is those connections that Lorna and Dan say they will miss most, the care and continuity our patients rely on will remain unchanged.

From all of us at Fifth Avenue, thank you, Lorna and Dan, for the care and commitment you have shown our patients and whānau. We wish you and your family well as you begin your next chapter back in the UK.