Press Release
4th August 2003
McNeil
and Chisholm in Rankin Talks
MSP
for Greenock & Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, will meet Health Minister, Malcolm
Chisholm, tomorrow to discuss Argyll and Clyde Health Board’s decision to
centralise all consultant-led inpatient maternity services at Paisley’s RAH.
The
meeting is the next stage of Mr McNeil’s campaign to convince the Minister to
overturn the Board’s verdict which, he fears, opens to the door to the
centralisation of consultant-led inpatient services for over 800,000 women and
children in two hospitals – Paisley’s RAH and Glasgow’s Southern General
– which are 7 miles apart.
Speaking
today, Mr McNeil said:
“I am very pleased that the
Minister has shown how seriously he is taking this issue by agreeing to meet me
at very short notice.
“My first job will be to
secure an assurance from the Minister that he will not simply rubber stamp the
Board’s decision, but will closely examine its details and implications.
“And there is certainly
much he needs to examine. From the
devastating knock-on effects, to the underlying issues which the Board ignored.
From reports that neighbouring Health Boards refused to co-operate with
each other, even though they were carrying out similar reviews, to the fact that
the Board’s plan is simply unsustainable.
“I will therefore ask the
minister to defy precedent, resist the immense pressure being applied by
powerful vested interests in the NHS and tell the Board to think again.”
ENDS
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