24 September 2004
Scottish Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm has pledged that he will delay any new hospital closures until a national review group produces a health plan next March.
However, the minister, who is at the centre of a row over hospital reorganisation and closures, told the Scottish Parliament's health committee this week that he would not reverse decisions already made unless there were clinical safety issues.
These include the reorganisation of acute services for Glasgow, Tayside and Forth Valley, which have been the subject of angry public protests.
Chisholm said: 'How far back do people want to go? If decisions have been made, we can't have everything slowing down. We have to strike a balance – we can't use the advisory group to… put things into reverse.'
The reorganisation, involving 21 NHS hospitals, is the biggest crisis facing Chisholm since he became health minister. Called to a meeting with Labour MPs at Westminster last week, he was told to 'get a grip' on the devolved health service in Scotland.
A Liberal Democrat MSP, Jamie Stone, who represents Caithness, one of Scotland's most northerly constituencies, told the health committee that the proposed changes could cost the lives of mothers and children unless Chisholm took account of the remote nature of some services.
Stone pointed out that in winter, roads became blocked, helicopters didn't fly and trains didn't run. 'That's people potentially dying in an ambulance or in surgery,' he claimed.
The highly controversial closure of the casualty unit at Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow is among the decisions unlikely to be reviewed by Chisholm. He said a balance had to be struck between delivering high-quality care and ensuring access to it.
PFsep2004
