Tributes have been paid after a “legendary” County Durham doctor died just days before Christmas.

Dr Joseph Chandy passed away on Wednesday, December 20th, aged 82, surrounded by his family. He lived in Horden since 1970, following his arrival from his birthplace of Kerala, India.

Dr Chandy “lived for the community of Horden” and gave work to miners to assist their families during the miners’ strike. After the coal closure in 1988, he made a huge investment in the community to purpose-built a care home for older residents.

After selling the home, he remained as a GP practitioner and worked to the age of 75, before retiring in 2015. He supported his peers in the East Durham area by developing Peterlee Health Centre and creating the first GP out of hours service from this centre.

He then passed the GP practice onto his son Mr Joseph Chandy Junior, the current managing partner. Joseph Senior’s grandson Joshua also works at the practice, becoming the third generation to “serve Horden”.

Joseph Chandy Junior said: “Rarely have I seen this level of comments of people openly saying how he touched their lives. The depth and content of the comments posted are truly moving and the whole family are overwhelmed at this outpouring.

“My father believed he was ‘born to serve’ and he worked tirelessly for his patients and community and was truly dedicated to his work.”

work on treating B12 deficiency. His belief that this condition should not just be diagnosed and treated based on blood result markers alone, but by also considering symptoms when making a diagnosis, was at the time not within established guidelines.

His work in raising the profile to help thousands of patients consider a change in diagnosing the condition subsequently made the NHS reconsider its position on this. Dr Chandy’s work was later published in a book Vitamin B12 in Clinical Practice in 2019, which documented the evidence and case studied behind his findings, as well as his struggle to gain acceptance and change of practice for B12 deficiency.

His story was also featured on a BBC1 special for Inside Out and highlighted the stories of the patients whose lives were dramatically turned around due to Dr Chandy’s persistence to make a difference.

Dr Chandy is survived by his wife Alphonse, children Joseph Junior, Paul, Leanne, and six grandchildren.

His funeral will take place on Friday, January 12th, 2024 at 12pm (midday) at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church in Peterlee.