Give RAH the cash it needs
£35 million – that’s the amount of money required to bring Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital up to standard.
The staggering figure revealed in the Paisley Daily Express last week backs up what patients and staff have been saying for some time – that our local hospital isn’t getting the investment it deserves.
Through a freedom of information request we now know more than 700 areas of repair work at the hospital have been identified by health bosses.
The list includes a number of repairs which are reported to be “high risk”, equipment that needs replaced and improvements needed to improve the hospital building itself.
NHS staff do vital work day-in, day-out and it is important they have a modern, safe environment to work in and to treat the patients who depend on them. That means hospitals should be well-lit, well-ventilated, clean, up to standard and free from hazards. It means having reliable technology and a building that is fit for the needs of the NHS now and the changing needs of the health service into the future.
Over recent years we have seen a fall in bed numbers at the RAH and earlier this year local families were betrayed when the SNP Government closed the Children’s Ward and transferred that service to Glasgow.
This major repair bill is another example that demonstrates there’s a big difference between what the RAH needs and what the RAH gets from the SNP Government in Edinburgh.
While the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board are responsible for maintaining the site, it is ultimately the Scottish Government who are responsible for funding the NHS.
It’s time the Scottish Government put their money where their mouth is and give the RAH the serious cash that it needs. In the meantime, I will keep on fighting for our local NHS and insist that they do.