He was surgeon to the Wallasey Dispensary (which later became Victoria Central Hospital), and then surgeon to Seacombe Cottage Hospital, which in 1901 became Liscard Central Hospital. He resigned this post on his election to Parliament,[2] resuming the position when he stood down from Parliament.[8]
At the 1918 election, he was selected as the Coalition Conservative candidate for the seat of Wallasey which had been newly created from the Wirral constituency. He did not contest the seat in 1922, when it was held for the Conservatives by Robert Chadwick.
After his retirement from Parliament, McDonald returned to medical practice, eventually retiring to Croydon[2] where he died on 8 July 1931, aged 70.