I was astonished to read the local MP’s recent column in which he tried to pin the blame for cuts to NHS services at the Vale of Leven Hospital on local councillors.

As an elected representative I am surprised that he doesn't understand how the different layers of government work. The SNP Government has been in charge of our NHS for almost a decade.

Ministers in Edinburgh set the NHS budget and they decide the policies – not local councillors.

The SNP Government appoints members to health boards in every region in Scotland to oversee services at a local level. There are around 20 unelected members of Greater Glasgow and Clyde, directly appointed by the SNP Health Secretary.

This does, of course, lack any democratic legitimacy so one councillor from each of the seven local councils in the Greater Glasgow area is also invited to join the health board to try and make it more accountable to the views of local people.

So that’s 20 members appointed by SNP ministers and seven councillors, including one from West Dunbartonshire.

This is where the claim from some SNP politicians that we should focus on persuading councillors, not the government, to stop the cuts becomes misleading.

The Labour councillors on the board have already tried to block the cuts at the Vale by forcing a vote on the proposals on two separate occasions. Each time they were voted down because they only form a small minority on the board.

It’s clear now that the health board won’t even listen to its own members never mind the public.

That’s why the next stage of the campaign has to focus on getting the SNP Health Secretary’s support for blocking the cuts at the Vale. I welcomed the SNP’s support for our motion at council asking the government to step in.

It was important that we sent a unanimous message to show that our local community is united against the cuts. It was disappointing that there was a delay due to the SNP squabbling over the wording but the Health Secretary has now finally been invited to attend a meeting at the Council, alongside campaigners from Hospitalwatch.

The future of our local hospital is more important than party politics yet the SNP has already wasted so much time and energy attacking Labour.

We need to stand together on this issue so the Health Secretary fully understands the strength of local feeling about the Vale of Leven Hospital.