ABSTRACT
In 1932, Alexander John Macleod was offered a job as general practitioner in Lochmaddy, North Uist, which he accepted. This meant that he was the sole general practitioner for a group of 16 islands and was assisted by several nurses. The service was taken as an example of how a good and equal service could be provided when the idea of the National Health Service (NHS) was being conceived and Macleod was passionate that all the best features of this service be included in the future NHS. Public health was an important part of practice for Macleod who was an avid promoter of vaccines, trialling them on his own children before putting them into practice on his patients. Macleod was committed to teaching and took on many trainee general practitioners who were keen to learn the ways of rural practice, gaining the nickname of the ‘Lochmaddy School of Postgraduate Medicine’ for the quality of the teaching and experiences provided.
