Breast screening services look set to be moved from the Vale of Leven Hospital to the Royal Alexandra in Paisley.
The centralisation plan by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde was revealed this week by MSP Jackie Baillie, who attacked it as ‘outrageous’.
The health board says it has consulted with patients, who felt fast diagnosis was more important than location of facilities.
A paper submitted to the health board’s acute services committee asked members to approve the first stage of the Moving Forward Together programme, which focuses on the breast screening service review and redesign.
The paper outlines proposals to remove breast screening services from the Vale of Leven Hospital in Alexandria, as well as Inverclyde Royal Hospital (IRH), and to centralise them in Paisley.
Ms Baillie said: “This is outrageous. It is clear that the Moving Forward Together programme will mean cuts to our local hospital services.
“A change to breast screening services on this level could have an adverse impact on women in our community. We already know that vulnerable women from disadvantaged areas are less likely to regularly get themselves checked for breast cancer
“Having to go to the RAH for a follow-up appointment may mean that they are unable to get the treatment that they need due to cost and distance.
“The board paper states that a robust public engagement process has been undertaken but I would be interested to know just how many members of the public from Dumbarton, the Vale of Leven and Helensburgh were involved in agreeing with a decision to take services away from their local hospital.
“If this is the start of the board’s Moving Forward Together programme the potential impact on services at the Vale could be horrendous for local people.
“Paisley is a bridge too far. The board must listen to local people and not railroad this decision through.”
The health board paper states that the board has already carried out robust public engagement and that because of a shortfall of available specialised doctors a breast advanced nurse practitioner role has been developed, with talks already held with Glasgow Caledonian University about training.
It adds that the current mammography machines at the Vale and the IRH are old and cannot be transferred, so new equipment costing £552,000 would be needed.
A health board spokesperson said the proposed redesign aimed to give women much quicker access to assessment, diagnosis and treatment via a ‘one stop shop’ model.
She added: “This model of care enables women to get same-day results which reduces the worry and stress of delays in getting the results and means that treatment will start sooner.
“In drawing up this proposal we consulted with women from across the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area and the overwhelming finding was speed of diagnosis was far more important to these women than where the service was located.
“Nine options in total were considered by patient representatives as well as clinicians involved in the service. The clear, preferred option sees outpatient services concentrated in fewer sites to provide a consistent, sustainable service in the model of a one-stop shop.
“Moving to this model also aims to reduce the number of appointments the patients need to attend, as imaging would be provided at the same time as the consultant outpatient appointment.
“Patient representatives were clear in their support of continuity of care and rapid access following referral, even if this meant travelling beyond their local hospital.
“The board is yet to consider this proposal.”
The health board report is here: 201807191450 (1)
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