Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Potential hospital sites up for discussion
JUDITH TONNER
Monklands residents had their say on the location of the area’s new hospital at the first of the public consultation sessions since a third potential site was added to the list of options.
Around 80 Airdrie residents and politicians attended last week’s session at Gartlea community centre to share their views on the locations at Gartcosh, Glenmavis and Wester Moffat – and raised travel times, transport and accessibility for patients as the major factors they want to be considered when the decision is made in March and April.
It was the first of a series of meetings forming part of the current site selection review, with another taking place in Gartcosh last Wednesday, while Coatbridge residents can have their say at the Conforti Institute tomorrow evening.
Graham Johnston, the health board’s head of planning and development, told the audience that he was “surprised” to find from discussions that “people believe NHS Lanarkshire has already completed the decision and has a preference for Gartcosh”, saying of the three sites: “We do not have a view.
“NHS Lanarkshire doesn’t have a preference – our only view is to get through this process and build a hospital.”
Independent chair and Consultation Institute associate Andy Mills, of engagement practitioners Latta- Charlton, led the proceedings and said: “We want to have as many voices as possible, on how the options could impact on you, your family and your community.”
Par t i c i p a nt s’ opening questions centred around the much- disputed driving times to reach Gartcosh, as well as public transport concerns – with one speaker noting how a train journey to Gartcosh would involve going via Glasgow and take up to an hour and 25 minutes, while another noted that current public transport trips from the area to University Hospital Wishaw take “two hours and three buses”.
Mr Johnston said: “In identifying the public transport changes that can be made, most of this will be by bus; each of the three sites has an undeveloped current transport arrangement, and we’ll identify the cost to upgrade.
“We’ll endeavour to have a transport hub, so that there may also be a third-sector option via community transport; the public transport will be a work in progress as changing the infrastructure will take time.”
The effect of the planned East Airdrie link road – which would be required to give access to either the Glenmavis or Wester Moffat sites – was discussed for its impact on driving times, along with whether a new route would be a single or dual carriageway.
Public transport access from Airdrie’s surrounding villages, especially in the evenings, was raised and one group stressed: “The majority don’t want the hospital at Gartcosh,” and told how they have “major trust issues round transport”.
They said: “We don’t believe the strategy or times are realistic; there have been broken promises along the way and there are major concerns about staff and their ability to get to the new Monklands, wherever it’s built.”
Another focus group of residents said: “We want this new hospital to be as central as possible for the majority of patients, for the roads and infrastructure to be correct for easy access, and to continue with centres of excellence at Monklands,” while one table held its own mini-vote, reporting: “No- one voted for Gartcosh, and everyone voted for Wester Moffat.”
Residents were also asked what topics they felt should be added to the list of benefits criteria to be used when the three sites are scored on their relative merits by a 100-person panel on March 10, including 51 self-nominated members of the public drawn from different postcodes to “reflect the current usage of the hospital”.
“To x i c i t y ” and site decontaminat i o n w e re mentioned, along with health and safety, plus the issue of cross-boundary flow of patients between health boards – with many concerned that Gartcosh is at the very edge of NHS Lanarkshire’s catchment area and will attract patients from the east end of Glasgow.
Neil Gray, the Airdrie MP, was in attendance along with all five of Airdrie’s SNP councillors and independent Airdrie North representative Alan Beveridge.
He said: “A lot of people have trust concerns around figures that have been presented on transport, travel and decontamination – having confidence in that is going to be really important.
“People from areas of multiple deprivation are disproportionately users of the hospital but will be traditionally under- represented at the hearings and scoring event and find these difficult to access; the information to the scoring team needs to be reflective of the real lives of people who most frequently use the hospital.
“It’s interesting to hear it said that Gartcosh is absolutely not NHS Lanarkshire’s preference, as the previous exercise could at least have been misconstrued as that; so having a level playing field going into the scoring event and the information presented there will confirm if that’s the case.”
Discussions at the meeting also raised the accessibility for people wishing to participate in next week’s people’s hearings, with help being offered by its facilitators for those needing it to make the required advance submissions of evidence.
Responding to a point about village representation in the scoring event – which will have 12 Airdrie residents and 11 from Coatbridge – Mr Johnston said: “It’s based on ML6 and ML5 postcodes and it’s up to people who live in the villages to nominate if they want to participate – I would make that point very strongly.”
The residents attending the following evening’s meeting in Gartcosh raised issues including parking and the impact of construction work and the hospital move on the area’s roads, along with the future use of the current Monkscourt Avenue site, which is set to become a “health village”.
Anyone wishing to be part of the scoring panel or to appear at next week’s “people’s hearings” to raise concerns about the accuracy of any location information can register by visiting www. nhslanarkshire. scot. nhs. uk/ get- involved/ consult- engage/ monklandsengagement/
The deadline for registering and submitting evidence for the people’s hearings is 12 noon tomorrow.
Interested parties are also able to send submissions without appearing in person by emailing MRP.Team@ lanarkshire. scot. nhs.uk or calling 01236 713348.
Residents wishing to nominate themselves for a place on the 100- member scoring panel should visit the website to register their interest by the deadline of 12 noon this Friday, February 28.