AN East Renfrewshire mum who joined the frontline in the fight against coronavirus has told how it was a “humbling” experience.

Lauren Miller was left with spare time on her hands after the pandemic struck and the Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel, in Clydebank, where she works as food and beverage manager, had to close to the public.

The mum-of-two was among a number of hotel staff who were redeployed to support the health service.

She put her skills to good use as a ‘wayfinder’ at NHS Louisa Jordan, in Glasgow, which was created as part of the Scottish Government’s response to the pandemic.

More than 1,000 bed bays were put in place at the temporary hospital, based at the Scottish Events Campus (SEC), as the virus put the NHS under severe strain.

Thankfully, as lockdown restrictions made an impact, the site was not needed for Covid patients and was instead used to support the NHS recovery, carrying out tens of thousands of outpatient appointments, providing vital staff training and playing a major role in the rollout of the vaccine programme.

Lauren was part of a team that greeted patients and visitors at the venue, pointing them in the right direction to their respective clinics.

With the hotel now open to the public again, she has returned to her ‘day job’ – but said she will never forget the time she spent in her temporary role.

Lauren told the Barrhead News: “It was a brilliant experience and made me feel I was doing my bit to help the NHS deal with the challenges that Covid-19 threw at us.

“We could have anything up to 14 different clinics in one day, so it was quite challenging at times, due to the sheer size of the place, but everyone worked as a team and it gave me a new outlook on how things were going.

“There were five different departments across three different health boards, which then went up to 14 departments, from orthopaedics, physiotherapy, blood donor clinics and vaccinations.”

Lauren, from Newton Mearns, also told how patients and other members of the public were “really supportive” during her time at NHS Louisa Jordan.

She added: “They were grateful to be getting treatment and we received thank-you cards from people, which was really humbling and gave us the feeling that we were making a difference.”

Denis Flanagan, the hotel’s general manager, is full of praise for Lauren.

He said: “Lauren and all of her colleagues have such a can-do attitude and I have been so proud of them all for their resilience and willingness to help.

“Many of them have been working outwith their normal comfort zone and environment.”