That was the verdict of award-winning doctor Martyn Walling, who retired from full-time practice last week.

Dr Walling, 62, is perhaps best known for his pioneering work in women’s sexual health, something that still takes him around the country advising on Implanon, a one-and-a-half-inch flexible rod implanted just beneath the skin in the arm to render a woman infertile for three years.

He described it as the most reliable means of preventing pregnancy, not relying on the woman to remember to take a contraceptive pill. Dr Walling’s work won him the accolade of doctor of the year in 1998-99.

After training in Sheffield, Dr Walling arrived in Boston in 1977 to start three years of vocational training, which involved working with the then-new Pilgrim Hospital and a six-month spell in America.

The Parkside Surgery GP began working with Drs Brackenridge, Sagar, Walt and Allwood in High Street and found the market town of Boston very different from the city.

“People were very welcoming, and with it being a small community you got to know the town and the people very quickly,” he said.

“It was also a wonderful place to bring up the children, with the grammar and high schools.”

Sons Duncan, 30, and Alistair, 28, have followed their father into general medical practice, Duncan in Southampton and Alistair in Leeds. Daughter Beth, 26, works in human resources and is currently travelling the world.

Dr Walling’s great love during his time as a GP has been the chance to be involved with people, often throughout their lives.

“People have been wonderful, and I have had many wonderful letters and comments. Unlike in the city, where people move on, in Boston you have the chance to develop relationships with patients, follow them up and be involved in their lives,” he said.

“It’s been a great privilege.”

Dr Walling has seen great changes over the years, with more patients putting a strain on the system and making appointments harder to get.

And the influx of migrant workers has also had an effect, particularly on maternity services. The practice had 12-13 maternity cases in August 2006 – last August that had increased to 27.

But Dr Walling has found the incoming workers are more health-conscious and ask for more regular health check-ups, as they would in their home countries. They also often return home for treatment.

As for Bostonians being the unhealthiest people in the country, Dr Walling believes the research tended to over-emphasise the people in rented accommodation and on low incomes, the very ones who were more likely to eat unhealthily and take less exercise.

“A lot of my patients do go cycling and the gyms are well used,” he said.

Dr Walling will be continuing his work with Implanon and female health, and he is also hoping to continue working part-time as a GP.

His retirement from full-time practice was marked by a party at the Parkside Surgery.