West Lothian doctor responsible for creating successful group of nursing homes dies during family visit to India

Daily Record

07-05-2025

Dr Nawal Kishore Bagaria reopened the former Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in Edinburgh
An unassuming West Lothian GP who created a successful group of nursing homes built on an ethos of care for all, has died aged 82.
Dr Nawal Kishore Bagaria was born in Pachamba, Bihar (now part of Jarkhand), in rural north India on February 5, 1943 he passed away on March 30 this year in Kolkata, India.
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He lived and worked in Livingston, and remained in West Lothian until just a few weeks before his death.
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He went on to completely remodel and reopen the former Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital in Abbeyhill, Edinburgh as a private nursing home, which operated until 2011.
The hospital opened a century ago in July 1925 but closed its doors as a maternity facility in 1988. Elsie Inglis had also been born in India.
Dr Bagaria also pioneered and led the set-up of the Edinburgh Hindu Temple, which celebrated 10 years in April 2025.
Nawal Kishore Bagaria was born to Shyam Sundar and Radha Devi Bagaria, who began trading Mica following its discovery in the open air coal mines in Bihar.
He chose medicine as his path early on, and after concluding his schooling and college he became one of only the second intake of Raanchi Medical School students. On graduating he completed his internship at the prestigious Velore Christian Medical School, the only one of the 250 Raanchi graduates accepted. Whilst there he was involved in research that contributed to the design of the modern day cannula.
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In 1968 his application to work in the United Kingdom was accepted and with almost no funds he initially based himself, following an initial stay in the Indian YMCA, in a guesthouse in Hampstead Heath in London.
Choosing hospital appointments with associated lodging he worked throughout the UK in London's Dulwich Hospital, Tredegar, Brighton, Birmingham and Newcastle. Although life was difficult at first as an Indian qualified Doctor he soon became appreciated and respected, and not only because he offered to work over Christmas and Easter breaks.
Wishing to work within the community he became a GP in West Lothian, a position he held for 15 years and during which he became interested in elderly care. At his initial interview with the West Lothian council, he was asked what guarantee there was that he would stay in Livingston. He responded, by committing to raising his family there and to provide for the local community for the rest of his life. He worked there till three weeks before his passing.
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Dr Bagaria's interest led him to also working in the elderly care units at Bangour and St John's Hospital in Livingston where he saw for himself the need for residential accommodation for those unable to go home, as hospital beds were 'blocked' by those with nowhere to go.
In 1988, Nawal and his wife, Dr Sheela, approached the Livingston Development Corporation (LDC) for a site with the intention of providing quality care and accommodation for older people unable to live at home, no matter their background or income level. This started a commitment to providing care to all, something which never left him.
Peacock Nursing Home was the result of the LDC support, originally 40, then 80 beds, followed by Woodlands Nursing Home, which also had 80 beds, amongst the very first purpose-built accommodation in the Lothians.
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The Bagarias were able to add the former Elsie Inglis Memorial Hospital to the group in the early 2000s, chosen in part because it was the first post as a Doctor that Sheela took up after their marriage in 1973 and subsequent move to Scotland.
After Sheela's death it was a comfort to Nawal that he and his daughter Ambika were able to completely re-purpose and refurbish Elsie Inglis in time for its centenary this July.
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Throughout his career Nawal became well known in West Lothian and beyond for his provision of care to all, also providing employment for thousands over the years and supporting the community.
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Following Sheela's request, Nawal provided the leadership vision for the setting up of the Edinburgh Hindu Temple and only stepped back as President in February this year. The couple saw the temple, not just as a religious entity but as a way to provide community, and welcome and support first generation Indians to Edinburgh and the surrounding area.
Nawal continued to work full time within the care homes, ably supported by his daughters and remained a major presence within the organisation until his recent death. He was involved with plans to provide further local authority funded places when he became ill after attending a family wedding in India and died in Kolkata. He was the first member of the family to reach his eighties.
Sheela predeceased him and he is survived by his daughters, Dr Jayshree MBE who has worked for the UK Department for International Development (now Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) and the World Health Organisation, most notably in South Sudan and in Sierra Leone during the Ebola epidemic and Ambika, a Qualified Chartered Accountant who is the managing director of the care homes company. Nawal also has two grandsons, Taran and Khailen who loved spending time with their Nanu.