The Vale of Leven Hospital could lose all its emergency services as well as the community maternity unit under NHS cost-cutting plans.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is trying to save £60m, and says the Scottish Government is forcing it to save 3% every year.
But local MSP Jackie Baillie has responded to the plans, revealed in the Evening Times, by calling on the SNP at Holyrood to take action and stop the ‘decimation’ of local health services.
A secret health board document which was leaked to the paper uncovers plans to remove all emergency services from the Vale, shut the children’s ward at the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) and threatens closure at community maternity units at the Vale, Inverclyde and the RAH.
The health board has already identified £13/14 million savings and the paper highlights proposals for the additional £48m required – it also says that jobs will come under threat: “Workforce is our biggest cost, to deliver this savings target we need to reduce the numbers of staff we have and establish lower unit costs ways of delivering services.”
Jackie Baillie, whose Dumbarton constituency includes the Vale hospital, said services would be ‘cut to the bone’, adding: “This secret paper contains plans that would devastate local health services in my constituency and across the whole of the west of Scotland.
“The SNP Health Secretary met with a group of my constituents only a few months ago and promised to protect and enhance services at the Vale of Leven Hospital.
“Now we know all along that plans were being drawn up to drastically cut services, not just at the Vale, but across the whole of the West of Scotland.”
The health board has issued a statement saying that the document had set out ‘potential areas for review’ and no decisions had yet been taken.
It added: “The Scottish Government expects every public body to deliver efficiency savings of at least 3% per year to help offset cost pressures.
“These cost pressures include new service developments, modernisation programmes and ways in which our workforce can be developed to deliver safe and sustainable services best suited to deliver the needs of patients.
“We also operate in a climate of continued increasing patient demand and increased cost of new technologies and drugs treatments.
“In common with every other public sector body, NHSGGC is therefore examining all of our services to see how we can deliver these more efficiently.
“Clearly not all of the schemes being considered will be implemented, but as a board it would be remiss of us to exclude potential areas without proper and full consideration.
“Any significant service change will only be implemented following full engagement with the public and trades unions.”
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