Campaigners need support to restore services to St John’s

Sep 24 2009 by Our Correspondent, West Lothian Courier

EDINBURGH transport chiefs are reported to be stalling moves to have patients from the capital treated at St John’s Hospital by withholding funding to provide transport from the capital to St John’s.

This is of course a very worrying situation.

Mary Mulligan seems to have plenty to say on this matter now. Why did she, Bristow Muldoon or the Labour Group have nothing to say when NHS Lothian transferred our emergency services without the West Lothian people being consulted?

It was because it was Labour policy to centralise services. The people of West Lothian were just told what was happening!

Transporting people from West Lothian was never considered by them, even although the journey could take up to two and a half hours each way and be a round trip of, in some cases, 70 miles.

I was a patient in the ERI in July 2005 and became aware of how people were getting very few visitors, if at all. I vowed to see what could be done about this very worrying state of affairs and contacted Mary Mulligan.

She did pay me a visit but all she said was it was being looked into and would get back to me. She never did until I began campaigning.

After weeks of hearing nothing from her I decided to do what I told her I would. I campaigned all over West Lothian and presented West Lothian Council with 19,207 signatures asking for funding to provide transport from St John’s to the ERI.

The then Labour Council did fund two buses a day to cover the visiting periods but these buses had to be pre-booked and, although welcome, fell very far sort of requirements to attend appointments at other times of the day. This was the cheapest option they could come up with.

It was people power that forced them into providing transport, not Mary Mulligan or the Labour Council. Even yet her constituents in Blackridge, Armadale and Bathgate, require 2-3 buses to access the ERI. She should be ashamed that this is the case.

It was only after the 2005 election when the SNP took control of the council that they funded nine buses a day and then, shortly after that, 14 buses, catering for staff as well as people having to attend for appointments. No thanks is due to Mary Mulligan and Co.

The inconvenience and extremely worrying situation of patients being transferred and St John’s being downgraded was the reason The Stop The Downgrade Campaign was formed.

It is clear that NHS Lothian is mainly interested in the Edinburgh Hospitals. They have consulted the Edinburgh people and have taken note of their concerns. Why was West Lothian denied the same consideration?

They have given us a few minor departments but these affect only a relatively few people and do not cater for the majority of people who unfortunately may require emergency treatment at their local hospital.

West Lothian is the fastest growing area in the country and yet NHS Lothian see fit to reduce our services. They should hang their heads in shame.

We still have a big fight on our hands and we would ask you to join us at our next meeting.

We must fight for re-zoning and the return of our emergency services to our local hospital. We need all the support you can give us.

Elsie Boyd

West Main Street

Blackburn