A Royal Invitation to Lunch

An email which arrived out of the blue resulted in two local staff being invited to lunch with HRH, The Princess Royal at Strathcarron Hospice.

Senior Specialist Health Protection Nurse, Victoria McDonald and Senior Infection Control Nurse, Diane Campbell represented NHS Forth Valley’s Public Health and Infection Control Teams at the lunch event as both had been closely involved in helping to manage outbreaks of Covid-19 within the hospice.

Speaking of her admiration for the work of Strathcarron Hospice, Victoria said: “We were so humbled to receive this personal invitation as we were both doing our job. We were able to meet and chat to Princess Anne who I think is still one of the hardest-working Royals and gives a vast amount of time, energy and compassion to charities. She was really lovely and asked us about our time working within the NHS during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The visit was particularly poignant for Victoria who sadly lost her best friend to cancer two years ago. Strathcarron helped care for her throughout her cancer journey, and Victoria says the staff are amazing and she holds the hospice in the highest regard.