Press Release
9th January 2001
West-Wide Review May be Way Forward - McNeil
MSP for Greenock & Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil, is continuing his involvement in the on-going review of maternity services in the Argyll & Clyde Health Board Area. Confirming that he will be attending the open event to be held in Paisley this Friday regarding the review, Mr McNeil said:
"Having been involved in this issue for well over a year, I am well aware of the emotions and anxiety which it has generated.
"I have put local concerns to senior officials in the NHS Trust and the Health Board in the strongest possible terms and have raised the matter in my column in the Telegraph."
He continued:
"Health care professionals such as midwives and obstetricians have put a lot of work into this review and I am keen to hear what they have to say on Friday. Any review must make improvement of care for mothers and babies its top priority and be carried out in an open and transparent manner.
"Indeed, as I said in a parliamentary debate on the matter on 27th April of last year, ‘if reviews are to mean anything, they have to be open, inclusive and honest. A cloak and dagger situation only heightens the concerns about people having to travel distances.’ "
The review of maternity services results from guidelines on best practice which are being promoted by professional bodies. These guidelines say it is preferable to have fewer, larger units which, the argument runs, would deliver better conditions, ensure money is well spent and reduce doctors’ hours. However, as we have a dispersed population, this model does not fit well in Scotland.
Health Board boundaries, said Mr McNeil, regarded by many as artificial, are exacerbating these problems:
"How would making the RAH in Paisley - which is a matter of miles from the Southern General in Govan - the single maternity unit in Argyll & Clyde improve patient care? We would have 2 hospitals on each other’s doorstep and nothing throughout the rest of the area.
"We would not be contemplating such a move were it not for artificial Health Board boundaries."
He concluded:
"Rather than having a review of maternity provision in Argyll & Clyde, perhaps a review of provision over all of the west of Scotland would be more likely to deliver excellent and accessible maternity care."
ENDS
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