Dear Editor

Following last week’s NHS Lanarkshire board meeting regarding moving trauma and orthopaedic services from Monk lands Hospital, there are a number of questions and issues that I feel were not discussed or where insufficient information was available.

It seems that there was almost total unanimity from board members regarding the proposal and I was very surprised at the lack of scrutiny and challenge to such a radical proposal.

It may be that scrutiny and challenge took place at an earlier stage in this process. If that is the case, I would like NHS Lanarkshire to advise of the following:

● What level of consultation and engagement took place in the community? Can they provide a list of patient groups who were consulted, and were any contrary views presented which were not available at last week’s meeting?

● Is there any written collation of the views expressed during this consultation, both supporting and challenging the proposal, that can be made available for viewing?

● Similarly, can they advise if there was any staff consultation?

One of the few challenging questions raised was transport, and again, I feel the answers and information supplied were inadequate. There was virtually no discussion around the issue of poor public transport links for those affected by this proposal.

What discussions have taken place with public transport providers regarding improved timetables and routing? With regard to NHS transport, would this proposal affect response times and possibly outcomes, with increased journey times for ambulance services and increased use of vehicles?

Is there capacity within both staff and vehicles for this increased usage, and has a detailed analysis been carried out? One of the bold statements around this proposal is that it