First Labs, now Pharmacy services?
Published 18 Aug 2011 09:30
LAST month we had assurances from health board chiefs that there would be no detrimental changes to laboratory services at the Vale of Leven hospital. Yet their proposals would result in the Vale labs being downgraded from dealing with 500 samples a day to less than 30 samples with the bulk of services moving to Paisley.
This is simply not good enough. The SNP Government promised to keep health services local so must not turn a blind eye to the efforts of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde to undermine the Vale of Leven hospital. Any reduction in service at the Haematology and Biochemistry labs at the Vale would be a blow to the Vale and yet another transfer of services across to the RAH in Paisley.
Unfortunately it is not just the lab services that are under threat. There are concerns emerging about the future of the Pharmacy department at the Vale. The Pharmacy at the Vale does a great job, dispensing prescriptions for in and out patients but also providing services for community mental health in the area. The Pharmacy at the Vale consults and deals with Community Mental Health clinics, Community Psychiatric nurses and patients.
Under NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's proposal the community mental health services offered by the Pharmacy would be transferred to Leverndale in Glasgow.
In December we witnessed the transfer of more emergency services to Paisley, an extra 6,000 people will now have to travel to the RAH in a year. Now we are seeing cuts to lab services, cuts to pharmacy services and in each case, services transferred away from the Vale of Leven hospital.
The Vale is a great hospital and deserves our support. I will do everything I can to make the SNP Government get the health board to think again.
Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Opinion archives.
