HOSPITALWATCH campaigners have reacted with dismay after their hopes of meeting Health Secretary Shona Robison to lobby her to take action against cuts at Vale of Leven Hospital were rejected.

A delegation from the local group travelled east to Edinburgh on Thursday where they had hoped for a personal audience with the SNP minister.

They also planned to present her with a 5,000 signature bedsheet, with names of those who attended the recent 24-hour Vale of Leven Hospital vigil.

And they wanted to voice their opposition to her in person over what they say is a gradual erosion of services at the Vale.

However, the day ended on a sour note when Robison failed to show up.

And the health secretary’s “no-show” has been labelled “disrespectful”.

Jim Moohan, chairman of Hospitalwatch, said: “I am extremely disappointed with the health secretary for not taking the time to meet our group.

“The Hospitalwatch campaign has fought for over a decade now to reverse the damaging cuts at the Vale of Leven Hospital and we should have been given the opportunity to meet the minister.

“It is disrespectful to the communities in West Dunbartonshire and Argyll who are concerned about the cuts at our local hospital.

“Our local services have been eroded and we are now reaching a position where the Vale of Leven Hospital is a shell of its former self.

“The next serious threat down the line is the closure of the GP out-of-hours services.

“If these cuts go ahead then patients in our area will be put in danger.”

“The health board is planning a further £170 million cuts this year and we are in no doubt that the axe will fall on more services at the Vale. The Health Secretary needs to act now to stop the rampage.”

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is considering plans to axe a host of services at the Vale of Leven Hospital, including maternity and GP out-of-hours services.

And in a week of action at Holyrood against the cuts, Dumbarton and the Vales MSP Jackie Baillie also led a debate on Tuesday evening, highlighting the concerns of local doctors in West Dunbartonshire, Helensburgh and Lomond.

GPs responsible for the care of 75,000 patients across the entire catchment area of the Vale of Leven hospital, have issued a unanimous statement condemning the cuts as an “unacceptable clinical risk.”

Ms Baillie also challenged Nicola Sturgeon at First Minister’s Questions to agree to a meeting with campaigners on another date- but she refused to give a straight answer.

Ms Baillie said: “The SNP Health Secretary is making a habit of dodging questions from local campaigners for the Vale of Leven Hospital.

“The Health Secretary has already turned down invitations to visit West Dunbartonshire so I am disappointed she couldn’t take a few minutes out of her day to meet them in parliament.

“The Hospitalwatch campaigners do an excellent job of holding the health board and the Scottish Government to account for their failure to deliver on the promises made in the Vision for the Vale.

“I will continue to work with them and local patients to demand an end to the cuts to our much-valued NHS services.

“I will be following up my question to Nicola Sturgeon in writing to secure a date for Hospitalwatch to present the bedsheet petition to ministers as soon as possible.”

In response. a Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Ms Robison was unable to attend the meeting but wrote to the campaign group to reassure them that she is fully aware of the strength of local feeling in support of the Vale of Leven Hospital.

“It is the responsibility of health boards to ensure that services are provided safely and the cabinet secretary has recently sought assurances from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde about the continued provision of comprehensive hospital, community and primary care services across the whole of the Clyde area, but particularly at the Vale of Leven hospital.

“That remains a priority.”

But Jim Moohan said: “The health secretary snubbed us completely, even though she was in the chamber.

“She had the audacity to send one of her assistants to collect the bed sheet with 5,000 signatures on it. She couldn’t even have the courtesy to show face and spare us five minutes of her time.

“It was very disappointing, shameful and totally embarrassing.

“We were well received by other MSPs but the health secretary has badly let us down.

“We will keep pursuing the campaign to stabilise services at the Vale. The health secretary has to waken up to the position of the health board. They’re running amok under the guise of consultation, which is totally unacceptable to the population of 100,000 people in Argyll, Bute and West Dunbartonshire.”