27th January 2012

STOP THE DOWNGRADE CAMPAIGN

Working to reinstate St. John's Hospital as an Acute Emergency Hospital

NEWSLETTER 27th. JANUARY 2012

A CALL TO ARMS: THE FIGHT TO SAVE ST. JOHN’S IS RENEWED!

DESPITE NHS DENIALS THE CHILDREN’S WARD IS UNDER THREAT

You read it here first! When we highlighted the threat to the children’s ward, we were pilloried and laughed at. Now we have the evidence courtesy of the Action to Save St. John’s Councillors we helped get elected in 2007. At our meeting on Thursday, Councillor Beurskens and Councillor Glass revealed the shocking news that the Postgraduate Dean has withdrawn all paediatric trainees from St. John’s with effect from the 4 th. April.

The hospital is shocked, and a letter from consultants sent to the medical director at NHS Lothian months ago already said they couldn’t deliver a safe service. Well, it will be less safe now, if it can be continued at all.

This is a disgrace and another kick in the teeth for the people of West Lothian. They’ve known about the concerns about paediatrics for years. Now their so-called efforts to fix the problem appear to have been useless. It is typical NHS Lothian: if it’s broken-and it’s St. John’s, don’t fix it. Let it wither, then we’ll say it’s unsafe, and we can justify the removal of the service to Edinburgh. And be in no doubt, it is the madness of the centralisation of services to Edinburgh this is all about.

And what of the Scottish Government? From humble beginnings, this group fought to get representation through the ballot box. And we succeeded. We formed an alliance with a party who seemed to share our ambitions to save St. John’s. They are already campaigning on the basis that they’ve saved St. John’s. But what have they done?

Our MSPs have been noticeable by their absence from these debates. Where were they last year when cardiology was going to be changed by the back door to the detriment of West Lothian patients? Where were they when the waiting times scandal was uncovered by Action to Save St. John’s Councillors last year? And where are they now?

It has now been revealed that millions more are to be given to NHS Lothian to deal with the mess, with much of this going to the private sector. You really couldn’t make this up! And they are re-opening defunct theatres at the Western. Do not misunderstand our motives: we want to see patients treated as soon as they can be. But empty theatre space at St. John’s is again being ignored while Edinburgh hospitals and the private sector benefit from NHS Lothian’s incompetence and skulduggery. It is little wonder the external auditors have been brought in. How humiliating for NHS Lothian.

ISD Scotland commented in response to the question of who is responsible for the local implementation of national waiting times guidance “ultimately, responsibility will lie with the chief executive.  However, within each NHS Board, there may be different structures in place to ensure implementation.”

We agree. He should go-and he should go now! Nicola Sturgeon cannot afford to ignore this.

It’s clear to us that the only way St. John’s will stay safe is with dedicated local Councillors who are committed to questioning and scrutinising everything NHS Lothian are doing. At our meeting last Thursday, the SDC agreed to support the Action to Save St. John’s candidates in the upcoming Council Elections.

We will fight on. St. John’s was saved in 2007, but now it needs our protection. Our next meeting will be held on Thursday 1 st. March at 7.30pm in the Kaim Park Hotel, Bathgate. Please come along and give us your support! Pass this newsletter to as many people as you can.

DON’T BE UNDER ANY ILLUSIONS: THIS IS YOUR FIGHT FOR YOUR HOSPITAL. WITHOUT YOU, THE FUTURE OF ST. JOHN’S AS AN ACUTE EMERGENCY HOSPITAL IS BLEAK.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN SUPPORTING THE CAMPAIGN DEDICATED TO PROTECTING ST. JOHN’S HOSPITAL, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH OR ATTEND OUR NEXT MEETING.

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The SDC Team.

St. John's, the heartbeat of West Lothian