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Doctors & pharmacists

Until the mid-2010s Aberchirder had been well served in terms of medical care. In an ever-expanding medical practice Dr Archie McBain who, from 1962, worked from the house at 78 Main Street, was succeeded in January 1969 by Dr William Black, whose consultations took place in the newly opened Primary School. In 1984 Dr Robin Gatenby took over the practice, joined two years later by his wife Dr Kate Lyons. In 1994 they set up the present well-equipped medical centre in Parkview where they worked until retiring in October 2013 when Dr Natasha Usher became the new GP.

As nationwide problems of recruitment became worse Dr Usher gave up the practice in April 2016 and the practice became a branch of the An Caorann practice based in Portsoy. The disruption and stress caused by the Covid pandemic which began in 2020 made it even more evident that health and social care were in need of radical reform to provide a service fit for the ageing population of the 21st Century.

Marjorie Brown retiral, February 2006          (l to r): Jillian Shearer, Arlene Milne, Ashley Clark, Maureen Calder, Helen Paterson, Caroline Simpson, Helen Bartlett.

At the pharmacy in Main Street a succession of pharmacists – Alison McKenzie, Marjorie Brown and various ones from Buchanhaven Pharmacy continued to provide a vital service for the community, not only in medical terms but also by offering modern premises for the post office  – which, since the closure of the Clydesdale Bank, provides important cash withdrawal facilities – and a stationer’s business. The business was bought by the Right Medicine group in 2021.