Little did his family realise that the brainchild of Nye Bevan would not only revolutionise health care in this country, but, when their baby son grew up, it would become the focus of his working life.

Brought up in Glasgow, he left school to study medicine at the city's university and, as chance would have it, spent 18 months of his training at Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary (FDRI).

After three years in the Royal Navy he joined a training general practice in the Borders before coming back to Falkirk in August 1978 to take up a post with the Grahams Road practice which eventually became the Wallace Medical Centre in Thornhill Road.

In March this year, Dr Luke bade farewell to his colleagues and patients, earlier than intended but, he candidly admits, because he was "fed up with the computer, with endless paperwork and with the target culture".

Yet he still feels passionate about the NHS and continues to work the occasional shift in the out-of-hours GP service operating out of FDRI.

He said: "I entered medicine realising that it would be tough but the difficulties being experienced today are different from 30 years ago."

Dr Luke fears that proposed polyclinics – centres which would not only house GPs but specialised services usually associated with hospitals – could lead to the end of family medicine as we know it.

"The country is sleepwalking into the new era of polyclinics.

''This is the brainchild of Lord Darzi, who is an unelected minister ... yet the profession is attacked by the Government for even questioning this unwieldy scheme. I believe that change should be doctor-led, allowing public choice and patient voice."

Latterly, he found the computer interfered with face-to-face medicine and he has serious concerns about it leading to a "dilution of confidentiality".

Dr Luke added: "The government paper mountain is relentless and the obsession with targets distorts everyday work at a time when doctors should be advocating for patients not ticking boxes.

''The result is that, instead of two part-time secretaries when I entered practice, there were nearly 20 when I left – at the same time the number of doctors had only increased from three to four!"

He believes that his profession is suffering from "reform fatigue", just getting into the swing of the Conservative proposals when they were voted out in 1997, then to have further changes imposed in 2004 by Labour.

"The ink had hardly had a chance to dry on the 2004 changes when Lord Darzi came along with even more change,'' he said.

Although a firm believer in a localised approach to family medicine, he dismisses the idea that everyone should have a right to not only choose their GP practice but also the doctor they attend as not practical.

"At one point our practice closed the list to new patients as we were struggling to cope with the numbers we already had. That created a snowball effect as other practices had to do the same.

''That's what would happen if people were allowed to choose a specific GP. I don't know of any 'bad' doctors in Falkirk and it was a very good general practice area to work in."

Ground-breaking advance-ments in healthcare over the last six decades have been hugely beneficial to patients.

Dr Luke explained: "New treatments have made dramatic differences – you rarely now have people admitted vomiting blood or with burst ulcers and there are now far fewer emergency operations for hernias. Keyhole surgery has also brought about huge improvements."

While the 60th anniversary may be a time for reflection, Dr Luke believes it is more important to look forward at what the NHS can achieve in future years.

"The out-of-hours service at FDRI is very good, as is the minor injuries clinic, but both could be developed further.

''I'm also concerned that the out-of-hours service is still dependent on doctors coming in from abroad to cover weekends. They are extremely good doctors but the system needs to attract more local doctors."

Acknowledging the NHS is hugely popular with patients and that the majority of people would be unable to imagine a situation where it didn't exist, he does feel patients have a responsibility to the publicly funded service.

"It has to be used properly and they should not be wasteful of pills and medicines, as well as other aspects of the system which are provided for their benefit," said the doctor.

"A lot of the changes made have been for the better. I have real hope for the future as long as the NHS takes into consideration family needs and GPs are allowed to work with families through the generations.

''Only that way can they build up a real relationship with patients and that is important. It is vital that we do everything we can to preserve the ideals of the NHS which, like me, celebrates 60 years this year."