Press Release, 21st April 2015
IRH’s £44M REPAIR BILL
Commenting on the revelation that Inverclyde Royal Hospital has a forty-four million pounds repair bill Duncan McNeil said:
“This is a hard-pressed community, and it gives me great concern for the future of our health services, especially since the biggest hospital in Europe, the South Glasgow University Hospital, has been built just up the road and the health board have to make that work. If this trend continues, is there a question mark over the future of IRH?”
“We need answer as to why we have got to a stage where the hospital has fallen into such a state of disrepair. The huge bill will also raise questions in people’s minds about the long-term sustainability of the building, and the impact this will have on staff and patients.”
“Given the huge health challenges we face locally, including a rising elderly population, the citizens of Inverclyde deserve the best health facilities available and the funding that would make this possible from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) and the Scottish Government.”
“While I acknowledge the recent upgrade to IRH’s accident and emergency department, it would seem we have a long way to go to bring the whole building up to scratch.”
Notes to editors
- The figure on the IRH repair bill is contained on page 60 of a Scottish Government report into the NHS estate published in February which can be accessed via the following link: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0047/00472607.pdf -