Campaigning for Health

This is an example of why primary care amongst infants is essential - well, that and we just thought it was cute.

Have been browsing through NHS Lanarkshires latest offering; their board meeting from 27th June. After telling us solemnly for a year and a half, that the proposed downgrade of Monklands was nothing to do with money, it seems like they've changed their mind and have taken a hissy fit. So they have decreed that the following will be under review;

Airdrie Resource Centre
Hamilton Resource Centre

Cancer Centre

Cumbernauld Community Casualty unit
Lanark Community Casualty Unit
Clydesdale Community Hospital

Kilsyth Health Centre
Wishaw Health Centre
East Kilbride Civic Development

Monklands Acute Mental Health Unit
Hairmyres Acute Mental Health unit

Oh yes and

Acute redevelopment, Hairmyres, Monklands and Wishaw.

Now, what is the purpose of this big long list? The purpose of this big long list, dear reader, is to make campaigners like myself feel guilty about campaigning for retaining all our A&Es in Lanarkshire. SO! Sacrifices will have to be made, thanks to those do-gooders who don't know the agonies we go through to make these decisions, who have no knowledge of the financial and logistical implications, and they smell as well..'

But do I feel guilty? Should I feel guilty? Lets take a closer look at this list.

First up; cancer centre. Oh yes. That cancer centre, that was going to work along with the Maggie Centre in Wishaw, then was going to be on the same site as Maggies, then was going to be placed at Monklands along with Maggies. Monklands is the only hospital in Lanarkshire that doesn't have an MRI scanner; the lab services that a cancer centre would need, were going to be up at Wishaw. Hmm. Was it ever going to happen, boys? I don't think so. I think it was just going to be Maggies. It shure ain't going to be the Beatson.

Community Casualty Units.

For those of you who don't understand NHS gobbledegook, a Community Casualty unit is a minor injuries unit, or a wee diddy casualty unit when they've taken the real service away. Note the areas they were going to be in; Cumbernauld, Lanark and Clydesdale. These were planned because the downgrade of Monklands would have meant that those areas were not covered either by NHS Lanarkshire or the neighbouring health boards. Now that Monklands retains its A&E, we should not need these units.

Monklands Acute Mental Health Unit
Hairmyres Acute Mental Health Unit

Oops- NHS Lanarkshire's favourite game; spot the mental health unit. Easy target, cos it's a cinderella service anyway and nobody cares about mental health except those who have to deal with it.
These proposals started off like this;

Two 112 bed stand alone units at Hairmyres and Monklands;

then

One 112 bed new build at Monklands and use ward in Hairmyres;

then

One 112 bed new build at Hairmyres; refurbishment of wards in Monklands (how on earth that was ever going to pass muster with health, safety and dignity regulations for mental health, I don't know)

now

Both units 'under review'. So what's new?

However, as foundations have already been laid at Hairmyres, I would say the smart money would be on option 3.

Oh yes, and not a pipsqueak about Kilbride hospice and the provision of hospice beds. NHS Lanarkshire was originally going to give the Kilbride Hospice Trust, land to build their hospice at Hairmyres, then reneged on it, tried to take the £1.4 million that people had saved up over 5 years for the hospice, and then made a vague promise about 'provision' of hospice beds somewhere else. Where, exactly?

So what does that leave? The health centres. Will these happen? My guess is yes. It brings all those pesky independent GP practices under one roof that belongs to the health board (or the PFI consortium that's building it) then reduce the number of GPs in the health centre and use nurse practitioners to plug the gaps, maybe bring in some private companies to run the health centre with salaried GPs and use it as a shop window for big bucks from the pharmaceutical companies and get rid of all those sick people that clog up the files and cost lots of money.

So, do I feel guilty? Do I ****. Oops, a good act of sorrow for swearing...