44 years ago, Shona Anderson left school to take part in an innovative training programme which would see her become one of the first laboratory staff for the new Monklands District General Hospital.

Shona , senior biomedical scientist (BMS) haematology now based at Wishaw, is retiring in March 18 and she is the last remaining BMS who was taken on in the early 70’s to train and be ready to support the opening of the laboratories at Monklands.

Shona said: “The management responsible for the hospital showed great foresight. They were building the new Monklands Hospital with new labs, so the labs were going to have all new staff.

“In 1974, rather than have a load of school leavers who didn’t know anything, two years before the hospital was due to open they took on 15 school leavers.

“The management put five of us in Bellshill maternity, five in Strathclyde Hospital and five at Hairmyres Hospital to start their training in all the different departments. We moved around after four months so everyone did all three sites experience all the different specialist areas.  They then recruited another none trainees.

“It was a huge investment in staff and an organisational nightmare to recruit and then rotate these trainees round other hospitals in Lanarkshire at that time and then to place them into specific disciplines.”

In 1976 Strathclyde Hospital was the regional lab where all GP samples were sent. This moved to Monklands in December 1976 before the hospital opened to patients.

Shona said: “By the time patients arrived, all 24 recruits were fully trained and we worked in all the different departments. It was impressive that they thought of all of this.”

Shona remained in Monklands from 1976 right up until the main laboratory moved to Wishaw in 2015.