20 January 2010
Immediate release
 
MURRAY PRESSES PARLIAMENT ON FUTURE OF COMMUNITY HOSPITALS

Local MSP Elaine Murray will use a speech today in the Scottish Parliament to push the Health Board to consider the strong public reaction to proposals to close five community hospitals in the region. She will highlight her key concern that the new centres will be less accessible to local people, making it harder to families and loved ones to visit those in care.

The Health Board’s current preference is for Option C but Elaine Murray is calling for them to listen to the responses to the consultation and choose Option B.

Elaine Murray MSP said: “The Health Board is proposing a radical shake up of healthcare provision in Dumfries and Galloway and I appreciate the arguments they make for their preferred option. I also welcome the fact that, regardless of which option is selected, we’re going to see a significant investment in healthcare in our region.

“However, it is important we get this right. The decision we take now will have far reach consequences for years to come.

“I believe the geography of Dumfries and Galloway makes the Board’s favoured option unrealistic, unpopular and unworkable. The public outcry at the prospect of closing five community hospitals shows the scale of the feeling in the area.

“I am particularly concerned about the impact these closures will have on accessibility for the elderly and vulnerable. If you have access to a car getting from the current facilities in Moffat or Langholm to the new one in Annan would take 40 minutes. Many people who use community hospitals rely on public transport and will have to make do with a single bus service a day. This just isn’t practical. Visits from friends and family are important to recovery and rehabilitation and making these difficult by reducing accessibility cannot be good for the patients.

“This is particularly poignant for those receiving palliative care at the end of their lives in these community hospitals.

“While the Health Board argues that treatment will be improved at the new facilities we cannot get around the fact that accessibility to loved ones is an important aspect of what the current community hospitals offer.

“I am also concerned that our history suggests our rural location means we’ll struggle to attract the appropriately qualified specialists required for option C, which may make that option unworkable.

“Two weeks ago, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing gave me an assurance that she would listen to the views of patients before agreeing to any of the options. I am grateful for that assurance, but hope that Health Board will review its preferences in light of public opinion and give Option B their final vote.”
 
ENDS
 
CONTACT - ANDREW MACKENZIE 07769206856

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Elaine Murray will push the Health Board to reconsider it’s preference for Option C during a Members Debate in the Scottish Parliament at 5pm this evening (Wednesday 20 January).

2. Five options for the future of care in Dumfries and Galloway were originally considered, this was then reduced to three. Option A involved the least change but would result in the closure of Moffat and Kirkcudbright community hospitals to in-patient care, and would require a capital investment of £144m and revenue investment of £5.9m. Under Option B the number of beds at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary would be reduced with more care provided by the community hospitals and one hospital in each locality operating as a Community Rehabilitation Unit. Option B also requires a capital investment of£144m but revenue investment of £7.4m.  Option C, that preferred by the Health Board is the most radical, involves the closure of 5 community hospitals, the creation of four larger Community Rehabilitation Units and the development of Enhanced Community Teams to support patients in their own homes. It would require a capital investment of £160m and a revenue requirement of £7.8m pa and therefore is the most expensive of the three options. The Board believes that this option gives them the greatest flexibility in the provision of service and the most modern and flexible of facilities.