Press Release
11th July 2003
Rankin
Announcement: “Road to Centralisation is a Wrong Turning” – McNeil
MSP
for Greenock & Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, has described today’s news that
the NHS Argyll and Clyde Maternity Services Steering Group has recommended that
all inpatient consultant-led maternity services in the Health Board area be
centralised at the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley as further evidence of
“not so much creeping as careering NHS centralisation.”
“Taking
the road to centralisation is a wrong turning and if this isn’t
centralisation, I’m a Dutchman.”
Mr
McNeil went on to spell out the consequences if the Health Board accepts the
recommendation at its meeting on 29th July 2003, saying:
“In
effect, throughout Argyll
and Clyde – from Tiree
to Largs, Campbelltown to Greenock and everywhere else in between – women who
require consultant-led inpatient care will have to go to Paisley’s RAH.
This might seem absurd enough in itself, but when you consider that a
university-led unit maternity unit is planned at the Southern General – only 7
miles up the road from the RAH – it is plain ludicrous.
“It
is, I suppose, a little comfort that the Rankin Unit will not close and I am
sure its highly skilled, local midwives will continue to do a first class job,
albeit for fewer women.”
Mr
McNeil also expressed his concern that the way in which the decision was reached
may undermine its credibility and leave the Argyll and Clyde community feeling
cheated:
“Nothing
could change my view that this decision is wrong,” he said. “But I could
perhaps accept it if I was confident that all the arguments were given due
weight.
“I
am therefore disappointed that the consultation process was, despite
representations, substantially curtailed. Where,
for example, were the citizens juries, which would have allowed us to call and
quiz witnesses over their plans? The consultation period was interrupted by Christmas, New
Year and an election campaign. It’s
also a pity that consultants did not attend the public meetings and information
events to argue their case for centralisation.
“I
think we are entitled to feel a bit cheated.
If decisions such as these are to be taken – and taken despite the
clear wishes of a community and elected representatives – those taking them
must show that they have scrutinised every option, given appropriate weight to
the competing arguments and arrived at a decision they can robustly defend.
“What
this episode shows is that, if consultation guidelines and frameworks cannot
guarantee that decisions are arrived at correctly, legislative safeguards must
be introduced.
“That
is why I am backing the
Private Member’s Bills put forward by two
of my backbench colleagues, aimed at increasing public involvement and
accountability in the decision making process.”
However,
the immediate task, Mr McNeil concluded, was to address some of the practical
issues which have arisen:
“I
will be meeting with the Health Board Chairman and Chief Executive to discuss
the impact this recommendation would have on other services such as accident and
emergency, gynaecology and paediatrics. I
will also seek assurances that no decisions are taken in the short term which
will affect the continuity of care for women already in the system.
“I
also hope to meet midwives at the Rankin Unit in the next few days.”
ENDS
Notes
Mr
McNeil has today tabled the following parliamentary motion, on which he hopes to
secure a member’s debate:
Maternity
Services in Argyll and Clyde:
That the Parliament notes with dismay the decision of the NHS Argyll and Clyde
Maternity Services Steering Group to recommend that all inpatient consultant-led
maternity services in the Health Board area be centralised at the Royal
Alexandria Hospital, Paisley; notes that this move will force over 200,000 women
over a 2880 square mile area to travel to a single hospital for inpatient
consultant-led services; expresses concern that this decision could concentrate
maternity services for up to quarter of the Scottish female population in two
hospitals which are 7 miles apart; is disappointed that the consultation process
was, despite representations, substantially curtailed; looks forward to
legislative changes which would prevent situations such as this recurring; and
urges NHS Boards when considering restructuring service delivery to have regard,
not only to the clinicians they employ, but to the communities they serve and
stop the march towards the centralisation of NHS services.
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