Health centre isn’t in acceptable state

IT’S over a year since the push for a new health centre in Port Glasgow got under way in earnest but it seems the campaign still has a long way to go.

The topic cropped up again during this year’s elections and community councillors are now set to hold talks with NHS chiefs to press their case.

When they have seen a very similar crumbling facility in Greenock replaced a couple of years ago with a state of the art £20m-plus replacement, it is a compelling one.

Health chiefs say that they have to look at the whole Greater Glasgow & Clyde area and work out their priorities, which is fair enough.

But even then, they will have to go to the Scottish Government for funding, and with the state of the public finances it’s not a given that investment will be widely available quickly.

While the prognosis for the centre remains uncertain, one thing should be made crystal clear to the health board’s officials.

If it is going to take a long time to decide what to do with the building, then it will have to be upgraded now to bring it up to scratch.

It’s not acceptable that campaigners have reported seeing buckets lying on the ground and ceiling tiles being removed because of leaks.

If staff and patients are going to have to put up with the Bay Street building for years to come, which seems increasingly likely, then these problems must be properly attended to so that it is fully functional at all times.