WHEN it opened, the Queen was celebrating her silver jubilee and Elvis fans were mourning the loss of the king of rock and roll.

Monklands in Airdrie was the first new hospital built in Scotland in the post World War 11 era.

Forty years on, staff past and present gathered to mark the anniversary of the official opening by Prime Minister Jim Callaghan on September 1 1977.

The hospital's roots go back to 1887 when Sir John Wilson Bt JP, a late 19th-century businessman and local politician bought the Airdrie House estate.

He bequeathed the land to the people of Airdrie and it became the local maternity hospital.

The hospital closed in 1962 and was demolished in 1964 to make way for the current Monklands District General Hospital.

The first patients were admitted in 1977, however, some hospital departments were open in 1974 including the College of Nursing.

In 2009, controversial proposals were unveiled to downgrade the accident and emergency A&E department which were reversed by the newly elected Scottish Government.

Six years later, a new state-of-the-art cancer treatment centre welcomed its first patients in the hospital's grounds and the charity Maggie's opened its first Lanarkshire centre to support patients undergoing treatment.

Jessie Gartshore has a long-standing connection to Monklands. She was born in the former maternity hospital, Airdrie House and went on to become a nurse in the district hospital and then a nursing officer before retiring in 1992.

Jessie, who did her first shift on January 1 1977, said: “I started nursing in 1959 and watched the hospital being constructed when I was a nurse in the Royal and travelled to Glasgow by train.

“It is a real privilege to be here. It is wonderful to see old friends and nursing colleague who were here at the beginning too. I have lots of happy memories about Monklands Hospital.

"I was the sister in ward four in the surgical unit which was the first ward to open.

"The Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan, actually went round my ward and I remember it like it was yesterday.”

Jessie was joined by fellow colleagues Rita Gregg, who was her secretary, and Helen Findlay who worked in nursing salaries.

Rita moved to the new hospital building in 1976 before the first patients were admitted in February 1977 and retired in 1993.

Rita said: “We were onsite when the hospital was just a shell. It was a huge building and I remember getting lost as I travelled up the lift and didn’t realise that you could only go between the towers from the bottom floor.

“I remember my first time in the canteen in 1976 and here I am again today over 40 years on. It is a lovely tea, the current staff have done well.”

Helen Findlay, also from Airdrie, started in January 1977 and took early retirement in 1995.

Helen said: “It was lovely looking round recognising many faces from the past. There were a lot of people I didn’t recognise but, given that I retired over 20 years ago, perhaps a lot of people didn’t recognise me either.”

Neena Mahal, chairwoman of NHS Lanarkshire, said: "This 40th anniversary is a truly momentous occasion, made even more special as there is a family connection with my uncle being one of the first trainee anaesthetists here in 1977.”

NHS Lanarkshire is currently working on a business case to either rebuild or fully refurbish the hospital.

Calum Campbell, Chief Executive, said: “I think Monklands has been fabulous for the 40 plus years it has been here.

“It was a terrific maternity hospital, it has been a great general hospital but times have moved on and healthcare has advanced so much in the last four decades. This is why we need to bring Monklands Hospital into the 21st Century. "