After 30 years, dedicated doctor opts not to carry on

GP Dr Rod Combe has retired from medical practise after serving the local community for more than 30 years.

Dr Combe finished up at Strathesk Medical Group in Bonnyrigg earlier this year, just before his 60th birthday.

He had been at the Bonnyrigg practice for 30 years, and senior partner for the last 15 years.

Dr Combe grew up in Middlesbrough but had always wanted to move to Scotland, with his father originally from Leith, and he moved to Edinburgh to study at the age of 18.

He graduated from Edinburgh University in 1973 and worked in various places, including a couple of years in Australia, before returning to the Lothians.

Dr Combe joined the Bonnyrigg practice in April 1980.

He said: "I always wished to come back and work in Scotland. I had finished off my training at the Newbattle Practice up at Mayfield so when the vacancy came up in Bonnyrigg it was a logical step.

"At that time it was Dr Somerville and shortly after that Dr Condie took over. Then we had Dr Norton and I took over as senior partner about 15 years ago.

"I specifically wanted to go into general practise and did a GP training scheme, and I've been very involved with general practise in a broader sense."

Dr Combe has travelled throughout Scotland and the north of England assessing GP practices and will continue to be involved part-time with Lothian Primary Care Trust following his retirement.

He says a highlight of his time at the practice was the recent Quality Practice Award from the Royal College of General Practitioners – one of only 100 awarded in Scotland.

In his 30 years in Bonnyrigg, Dr Combe has seen the practice grow substantially and in 1996 Strathesk Medical Group was formed from the two long-established practices in Bonnyrigg and Loanhead. Dr Combe said: "It has been a very interesting 30 years.

"There was the development of the new Bonnyrigg Health Centre, which opened five years ago in May. I was very involved with the planning and development of the centre.

"The old centre was really too small – we had perfected the art of hot desking.

"The new centre is a great facility and gives us enough space to expand when the new houses are built."

Friends and staff members, past and present, celebrated Dr Combe's retirement at the practice on his last day.