Dingwall doctor awarded MBE says lifelong Girlguiding experience proved invaluable in tackling unprecedented challenges of coronavirus crisis
A WOMAN who as a GP has juggled the unprecedented demands of the coronavirus crisis with a demanding voluntary role with Girlguiding Scotland is being honoured by the Queen.
Dr Moira McKenna (56) is familiar to thousands of patients as a GP at Dingwall Medical Group.
But for the past four years she has also served as Chief Commissioner for Girlguiding Scotland, having an impact on 30,000 young members and 10,000 adult volunteers.
She has been made an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to young people.
During the pandemic, she ensured every member of Girlguiding was supported with up-to-date information and worked closely with Girlguiding UK to ensure there were clear processes and communication channels to support units in returning to outdoors, and eventually indoor, Guiding also.
Dr McKenna achieved all of this while continuing to run her own Rangers Unit and work as a GP, supporting a massive vaccination programme.
She said: "The letter from the Cabinet Office was a big surprise. You don't know who nominated you. It's strictly confidential until the news is released. So there's a period when you're not allowed to tell anybody.
"You kind of have to forget about it for a bit. It's hard to believe it's true. It's not the kind of thing you expect to happen."
She spends as much time in voluntary work as she does in her day job as a GP. Having been lead volunteer for Ross-shire, she had a good idea of what would be involved.
She said: "It's a really important role to have volunteers who will step up and support the girls."
In her time she has been a Brownie, a Guide, a Ranger and a Queen's Guide.
Girlguiding was important to me when I was younger. I had fantastic leaders who encouraged me that as you work you can do a bit more and take on more responsibility.They encouraged me to go on to medical school."
She said her involvement from a young age and coming from a small village had changed her outlook and established confidence and skills.
The movement has changed with the times, she said moving from skills within the home to skills for life – including advocacy, taking action for others and mental wellbeing and as well as expressing yourself.
She said: "You make lots of friends and get opportunities to travel and meet people."
She revealed that her experience in the role had helped with the organisation of Covid clinics in the depths of the coronavirus crisis.
She said: "The Covid clinics would not have been as good without my Girlguiding experience. We used the same kind of model in organising large numbers of people."
She remains a leader of Evanton Guides and Ross-shire Rangers. She said: "I would not give up my time if the whole package was not fun."
Talking about some of the rewards, she said: "You see a shy girl coming out of her shell – I love seeing those small changes."
Looking back on the Covid experience she said: "There's lots of things Covid has robbed us off. We had to cancel a big jamboree that was planned and we moved online when we had to. The online support was important as they needed it. We were able to keep up with bake-offs and quizzes and volunteers have also been supported online."
She described Covid as the biggest step change in her 30-plus years as a GP looking after people remotely.
Asked about the lessons of the pandemic, she said: "I remain astounded by the resilience of the colleagues that I work with. We've got a fantastic team."
The only person she told about the honour was her husband, Douglas. She said: "I couldn't do everything I do without his support.This is a team award for family, friends, mentors, colleagues and fellow volunteers."
