A GREENOCK couple have been praised for their 71 years of combined service at Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
Sheena and Alex McDermid are celebrating their retirement after 34 and 37 years of working respectively at the Greenock site.
They finished their last shifts at the end of August, before saying an emotional farewell to their colleagues.
Sheena, who worked as a catering supervisor, said: “It’s the people I will miss the most. I have always had a great relationship with the people I have worked with and I’ll definitely miss all of them.
“Inverclyde Royal Hospital is such a great hospital and a great place to work. Both of us have really enjoyed our time working here.
“I told Alex I was retiring at 64. He is a year older than me, but he intended to stay on for a bit longer, but decided we should just do it together.”
Alex worked his way up from a technician role to a maintenance supervisor, and was widely regarded as the man who knows the hospital building more than anyone else.
He said: “This job has given me stability and it’s been a great job. I always wanted to be a maintenance electrician. It is something I’ve always done and I’m so happy I have been able to do it here. I am retiring a bit early, but I just felt the time was right for me to do so.
“I always liked the fault-finding side of the job, problem-solving under pressure and getting things working again.
“My advice for anyone starting out is, learn off of people, listen to people and help others too, share your knowledge and appreciate others’ knowledge.”
Louise Watson, site lead at the IRH, said: “Everyone at the IRH would like to thank both Sheena and Alex for all of their hard work over the years.
“It’s amazing that one couple have contributed a collective 71 years of service to the Inverclyde community and they will be missed by all of their colleagues and the team here.
“We would like to wish them both all the very best for the future.”
