Published: Tuesday, 15th April, 2008 10:00
FRESH HEALTH CONCERNS AS NEXT CONSULT STARTS
By Andrew Gibson
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CAMPAIGNER: Jim Moohan
MORE potential service cuts at the Vale of Leven Hospital will be up for debate after a second public consultation was launched last week.
Mental health services is the latest branch of the hospital under the burning spotlight of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) bosses.
As part of a range of plans on mental health services in the area the health board proposes to transfer 36 adult and elderly acute mental health admission beds from the Vale Hospital to Gartnavel Royal Hospital in Glasgow.
This would mean all inpatient mental health services for West Dunbartonshire would be located in Glasgow.
Jim Moohan, chairman of Hospitalwatch, said the proposals would put additional financial pressure on the Vale.
He said: “Once again the health board is purely coming from a financial position.
“I get the strong feeling they are walking along corridors putting out the lights.
“There is no indication they would intend to invest in the present location.
“If you close down a service you are still paying the overheads for that site — so you are putting cost pressure on the hospital.
“It is becoming clearer there is a finished agenda by the health board which the public are not going to be aware of until it is too late.”
Jim has vowed that the campaign group will continue pushing to keep the services at the Vale.
He added: “As a campaign group we can’t get our teeth into the process because they are conducting it in phases."
The health board says its preferred option to move the beds to Gartnavel is partly because they have clinical safety concerns that there is no resident out-of-hours medical cover for the wards.
It is also concerned about an ‘inappropriate mix of elderly and adult mental health patients in the same ward’.
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