LIBDEM SECURES DEBATE ON FUTURE OF COMMUNITY HOSPITALS

4.00.00pm GMT Tue 19th Jan 2010

Jim Hume, Liberal Democrat MSP for the South of Scotland, will tomorrow (Wednesday 20th January) use Scottish Parliamentary debate time to argue the case for the retention of five community hospitals across Dumfries and Galloway.

In a debate secured by the MSP, Mr Hume will question the health board's proposed transfer of elderly care from hospitals to the home and its funding plans, and will repeat his call for the Cabinet Secretary to visit with local action groups.

Jim Hume said:

"The proposed closure of the five community hospitals across the region has caused a great deal of upset in the communities that will be affected.

"But let's be clear that this is not about sentimental attachment, this is about the very real prospect of people losing truly local health services.

"There are still very many unanswered questions about how the health board will fund the preferred option, why it would not be more sensible to invest the money into improving the existing community hospital estate and crucially, how elderly care will be transferred from in patient beds into the home by the local authority.

"These are only a few of the points I will be asking the Cabinet Secretary to consider tomorrow, but I will also be repeating my earlier request for her to meet with local action groups separately before she comes to any final decision."

ENDS

Note to editors:

Mr Hume's motion is detailed below.

S3M-05289# Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (Scottish Liberal Democrats): Community Hospitals in Dumfries and Galloway- That the Parliament notes the contents of NHS Dumfries and Galloway's consultation document, Your NHS - Your Future Care; believes that the preferred option, which would result in the closure of Moffat, Langholm, Kirkcudbright, Lochmaben and Thornhill community hospitals, is widely unpopular with the respective local communities and fundamentally disregards the rural remoteness of parts of the region and the invaluable and high quality of care provided by these facilities; would welcome the involvement of other statutory bodies, private providers and voluntary organisations where necessary in the redevelopment of these hospitals, and hopes that NHS Dumfries and Galloway's preferred option for closures does not go ahead and, instead, that these vital, locally delivered community NHS services are redeveloped.