Scientist's daughters keep family tradition alive as George King retires from post at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary

Scientist George King devoted almost half a century of his working life to the NHS.

And his daughters are now following in the family tradition as the scientist retires from his post at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

George was born at the Foresterhill site and both his mother and father also worked there. He was just 16 years old when he began his career in the health service in October 1976.

The 65-year-old has now hung up his lab coat for the last time, having worked in diagnostics for NHS Grampian for almost 50 years.

The family have a combined service of over 120 years.

George told STV News: “It’s fantastic, I mean that’s a lot of commitment to the NHS. My father started in 1967 as the janitor at the newly opened Foresterhill nursing college where the nurses in Grampian got all their training.

“My mother worked there for 30 years as well. We all enjoyed working for the NHS. You get a lot of satisfaction helping people. At the end of the day it’s our hospital, it’s our family’s hospital, our friends, and you always feel you are doing a job that’s worth doing.”

George was born at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary’s maternity unit in 1959 and has lived or worked at Foresterhill almost all his life.

“We had a flat inside the nursing college where my dad worked,” he said. “It was very nice, it was like living in the country. I remember it being just open fields. Westburn Road was a single road with a dyke and beyond that was just fields to the hospital.”

George’s two daughters are keeping the family tradition alive. They are now the third generation to have chosen to work in the health service.

Mhairi is in management and Meran has just started her first job as a bio-medical scientist.

Meran said: “The NHS is such an important thing that everyone relies on. As a family, we all understand how important it is to work for something like the NHS and how important it is in diagnosis and in taking care of a patient’s prognosis. It’s very important. I’m very proud.”

Mhairi added: “I’m proud of my dad. He’s had a good career, he’s been here since he was 16 so it’s well deserved and he’s going to have a happy retirement.

“It is three generations and my gran and granddad working here gives me comfort knowing they were here too.

“I remember coming to the hospital with them when we were younger and I was playing on the piano when they were here so I think it’s always been a pathway.”