Morag McKellar, AHP Manager for Children’s Services, recently retired after clocking up an incredible 51 years of NHS service.
After qualifying as a dietitian in 1975 (her registration number was BDA 007 which spawned many a quip!), Morag worked in Wythenshaw Hospital in Manchester before becoming a Chief Dietitian at the Victoria Infirmary in Glasgow. She moved to NHS Forth Valley in 1979 where she held a wide range of roles including Area Dietitian, Head of Nutrition & Dietetics and Public Health Nutritionist. Passionate about health improvement, Morag also played a key role in developing NHS Forth Valley’s food policy, the first of its kind in Scotland.
During her long career she has worked as far afield as Hong Kong and Singapore, providing expert professional advice. Closer to home she is a former governor of Queen Margaret College (now Queen Margaret University) and has sat on a number of UK-wide advisory bodies and charities. In 2017, she was awarded an OBE for services to dietetics and public health and met with the then Prince Charles in 2018 when she visited Buckingham Palace to receive her award.
Speaking at a retirement event at Stirling Health and Care Village, Ross McGuffie, Chief Executive, praised Morag’s passion and drive over more than a half a century and the impact she had made on AHP services locally, nationally and internationally.
Louisa McGuire, Coordinator for Children’s Speech and Language Therapy services, also wrote a poem (see below) to highlight Morag’s many achievements.
Morag said she was exceedingly lucky to have worked for most of career in NHS Forth Valley and highlighted the support of her line managers and colleagues across dietetics, children’s services and administration teams.
She said: “I am looking forward to a change but will miss my colleagues and working with such a fabulous range of people.”
While Morag definitely deserves a well-earned rest she isn’t planning to completely put her feet up as she is considering doing some work with Healthcare Improvement Scotland to support their safe staffing visits. However, she is looking forward to a Mediterranean cruise with her husband first, gardening and just enjoying some more free time.
Morag – On your Retirement
Fifty-one years of service,
A lifetime of care finely spun
From dietetics to AHP leadership
A journey second to none.
An OBE to mark your impact,
But honours tell just a part
For your real legacy lives quietly
in people, places and hearts.
Since 2011 you’ve guided us
With a mind both sharp and kind,
A calm professionalism paired
with a truly brilliant mind.
Across the NHS you’re known
respected, trusted and held in esteem
A connector of people, a builder of bridges,
The anchor within every team.
You championed children’s AHPs,
Stood steady through change after change,
Backed Speech & Language with vision and courage
as we reshaped, redesigned, rearranged.
And what a fitting final chapter
Not just awards, but proof of change,
A transformation built on guidance
that your steady hand helped arrange.
You backed our vision with courage,
Made space for us to lead and grow
The service we are now becoming
exists because you helped it so.
From skiing the slopes with effortless grace
To gardening at home, your own peaceful place
To cruising the world where blue waters glow
A life full of adventures wherever you go.
So, here’s to you Morag
Leader, mentor, guide and friend,
As you step into your well-earned freedom
may joy greet you round every bend.
Thank you for all that you’ve given
For the standards you set so high,
