Dr Mitchell was called in by Billy Walker during September 1972, after his mother Annie was refusing to leave her bed. Dr Mitchell initially gave her sleeping tablets, but quickly suggested she should be up and about. Annie was rushed to hospital and had her stomach pumped, as Lucille Hewitt thought that she had taken the whole bottle of tablets. It transpired that Annie had only taken four of them.
After Annie returned home safely, Dr. Mitchell implored her not to blame everyone for acting in her interests, pointing out that he hadn't seen her as lively for weeks - even if it was sheer rage which was making her eyes sparkle.
Dr. Mitchell returned to the Rovers a year later when Ena Sharples had a mild heart attack in the snug. The complaint wasn't serious enough to have Ena taken to hospital; instead Dr. Mitchell made arrangements for Minnie to nurse her at 5 Coronation Street, giving her a list of things to get for Ena and telling her to make sure that she took them. As was often the case when a regular was the worse for wear, friends and neighbours fussed around her. Dr. Mitchell commented on this disparagingly, asking if the "Lancashire people" were as wonderful as they were cracked up to be or just couldn't bear to think that they might be missing something, but he dropped the subject when a weakened Ena spoke up in favour of them. Later, he suggested that a trip to St. Anne's to stay with her friend Henry Foster was in order, but Ena dismissed the idea and stated that she wanted to die in her own home. In the event, Ena made a full recovery.