Retired nursing lecturer stars in BBC Repair Shop NHS 75th anniversary special
Retired Lecturer in Mental Health Nursing, Bill McDonald, and his family, starred in an NHS Special of the BBC Repair Shop programme celebrating 75 years of the service.
Bill, who left Glasgow Caledonian University’s Nursing and Community Health Department in the School of Health and Life Sciences after 18 years more than a year ago, his wife Kate and daughter Fiona were introduced onto the show on Wednesday (June 28) as a “whole family of NHS heroes”.
They travelled to the Court Barn in the Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex, where the show is filmed, from their home in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, to see if furniture restorer Will Kirk could return an old oak desk to its former glory.
The desk has been in the McDonald family since 1986 when Bill rescued it from a mental health hospital in Lanarkshire, where he trained as a nurse, before it closed down. It became a family treasure where Bill, Kate, Fiona and her brother Lewis all studied over the years.
Bill, who was a nurse in mental health for 38 years, retired NHS stroke service administrator Kate and their daughter Fiona, an occupational therapist in a community mental-health team, were delighted with the restoration work on the desk and became emotional when they saw it for the first time in the Barn.
The desk has now gone to Fiona, who graduated in Occupational Therapy from Glasgow Caledonian in 2019, to help her work from home and, during the show, Bill placed the nursing badge he received when he graduated many years ago in the top drawer as a keepsake for his daughter.
Bill said: “The desk means a lot to our family, it is really precious and to see it restored like that is absolutely wonderful. It was already a bit battered and bruised when I brought it home in 1986 and it’s been through the wars since then. It’s such a transformation. Will has done an amazing job.
“That desk is where I sat when I studied for my final-year nursing exams, and then, as the family grew, my kids Fiona and Lewis used it for their homework, and Kate has used it for studying too. The desk was my classroom all through COVID-19 and I always used it for marking.
“We are so immensely proud of what Fiona does and we really wanted her to have the desk and to keep that NHS tradition going. The desk will be there to witness her journey just like it’s been with us through our journey. It is just fantastic. I wanted Fiona to have my nursing badge that I got when I graduated so it can live in the drawer as a wee memento.”
The McDonald family went down a storm in the Barn with restorer Will and the crew, who were thrilled to have them on the show.
Will said: “They were one of my favourite families – they were so proud of Fiona. It was an utter pleasure to help transform the desk for them – especially because of the special meaning behind the desk.”
Bill and his family don’t see themselves as NHS heroes – just part of the army of healthcare professionals that keep the service going.
Bill said: “The NHS is something that’s always been there for our family whenever we have needed it and, as someone who worked in the NHS for many years, having the opportunity to support people when they were at their most vulnerable has been the biggest privilege of my life. It has been the best career ever.
“To get the chance to work in the NHS for us was such an honour and a privilege, so being able to celebrate the 75th anniversary with the BBC Repair Shop team has really been a very special experience for us. The entire Repair Shop team have been absolutely brilliant and we can’t thank them enough.”
Since Bill and Kate retired they have travelled around the UK in a campervan and spent more time caring for their parents with dementia. They also love entertaining care home residents with concert tours. Bill plays the ukulele while Kate sings.
Bill, who became an admissions co-ordinator in 2010, said: “I really miss my colleagues at Glasgow Caledonian. I loved my job. We were a great team, and the number of students and families that said they chose to come to the University because the nursing admissions staff were so friendly and helpful was incredible.”
Photo - Courtesy of Ricochet/BBC - (left to right) Fiona McDonald, Will Kirk, Kate McDonald and Bill McDonald in the BBC Repair Shop.