JOY AS HOSPITAL SAVEDFROMAXE
LIGHTBURN WINS REPRIEVE... FOR A SECOND TIME
CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating after an East End hospital was saved from closure.
It is the second time the government has turned down proposals to close Lightburn, after Nicola Sturgeon rejected health board plans in 2011. Campaigners said ‘common sense has prevailed’.
Political Correspondent CAMPAIGNERS who fought to save Lightburn Hospital are celebrating victory once again as the Health Secretary rejected health board plans for closure.
Shona Robison announced the decision to keep the hospital in Carntyne open.
It is the second time the Scottish Government has rejected plans to shut the hospital after Nicola Sturgeon, as Health Secretary, kept it open in 2011.
Ms Robison said to approve closure the health board would have had to address the concerns of her predecessor, Ms Sturgeon, in 2011.
Ms Robison said that there remained concerns that closure would remove a significant and highly valued healthcare facility from one of the most deprived communities in the country.
She added: “I believe the proposed relocation of rehabilitation services should not go ahead as plans to improve health and social care services in the East End are not yet fully developed.”
She said the next step for the health board would be to develop plans for a health and social care hub in east of Glasgow to improve services
Gerry McCann has been a leading campaigner for the hospital on both occasions.
He said: “I am delighted. I was always hopeful; I felt Shona Robison listened to our concerns. Common sense has prevailed because the East End can’t do without a hospital like Lightburn.”
Mr McCann said the campaigners would be keeping a close eye to ensure the health board invested in the facility – unlike seven years ago.
Ivan McKee, Provan SNP MSP, had campaigned to keep the hospital open and for a health hub to be part of the solution.
He said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Lightburn will stay open and that the site could be developed to incorporate the planned East End Health and Social Care Hub. The case for a local community hospital in the East End has been proven beyond contention.”
Glasgow Labour MSP Anas Sarwar also campaigned for Lightburn. He said: “This is a victory for local campaigners, but the reality is we should never have been in this position.
“Nicola Sturgeon promised there was no closure proposal but we have had to campaign every day to save Lightburn.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We are committed to working with the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership to deliver a new health and social care hub for the east end of Glasgow, bringing an investment of approximately £40 million in new facilities to the area.”
The Health Secretary did approve health board plans to close a children’s ward in Paisley and move services to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.
Ms Robison said she only agreed on the strict condition that local community paediatric care provision is “maintained and continually improved”.
She said the proposals were backed with “overwhelming clinical support”.
The health board welcomed the decision while opposition politicians were outraged.
Neil Bibby, Labour West of Scotland MSP, said: “This is a disgraceful political decision. The families and staff of the Children’s Ward and everyone who uses the RAH have been stabbed in the back by the SNP Government.”