Deputy first minister Shona Robison says IRH future is safe

Shona Robison MSP, a former health secretary, categorically denied that the hospital could lose its casualty department, in the wake of fears over the future of emergency services.

The alarm has been raised by patients and campaigners at people bypassing IRH accident and emergency to be taken to other hospitals.

This has prompted fears of a strategy that could see Inverclyde left in the future without an A&E.

But Ms Robison categorically denied this during an interview with the Telegraph.

She said: "This is one of the best performing A&E services in Scotland, certainly within Glasgow and Clyde.

"Therefore that service is important and it is important that it remains.

"In terms of where trauma patients go, there is a trauma network and this has happened across Scotland where people, according to their injury, will go to the most appropriate place.

"It might be the hospital can only treat people up to a certain level of injury, the speciality in treating that injury may lie elsewhere, in Paisley or particularly major trauma in Glasgow.

"So it is important that the person gets to the right place.

"There is no question at all of the emergency services not remaining in Inverclyde.

"This is a hospital I know well, I visited it many times when I was health secretary and it is one that performs very well indeed."

Ms Robison was quizzed by the Telegraph during a visit to the Inverclyde to meet with hospital staff and volunteers with Compassionate Inverclyde.

The Telegraph pressed the minister over the fact that that people who had fallen or had broken bones had been taken to Paisley.

We recently highlighted the case of elderly man Jim Thomson, of Octavia Terrace, who had a tumble in the town and was left lying waiting on a trolley in the Royal Alexandra Hospital after being taken straight by to ambulance to Paisley instead of IRH.

The 73-year-old was then discharged and sent home in a taxi.

This issue of patients being taken elsewhere has also been raised by health campaigner and former Provost Ciano Rebecchi.

READ MORE: Port Glasgow residents are glad blaze block is coming down

Ms Robison said: "Such injuries can be complex sometimes, so it is important that the person gets quickly as possible to the place that can best treat their injury.

"Now for most people than will be Inverclyde but if the injury is particularly severe or complicated, then it maybe elsewhere.

"I think if it was one of our loved ones we would want them to go to the place where the speciality is there to best treat that injury."

Another hot topic on health locally has been cuts to the out-of-hours GP service.

The Telegraph discovered that NHS & Clyde has plans to shelve a full return of the GP service and establish a permanent centre in Paisley.

But the health board have now been ordered by watchdog Health Improvement Scotland to give the public a much greater say on the matter.

Ms Robison said: "As I understand there is going to be a consultation to be going on around that.

"It is an important service that was changed to an appointment service during Covid.

"The consultation will take its course and out of that I am sure there will be an arrangement that will help to meet the needs of the public.

"Out of hours GP services are very important for communities across Scotland."

Ms Robison was also asked by the Tele if more money would be available to repair and upgrade the hospital after a damning report from HIS during a visit last October said it was 'in a poor state of repair and not well maintained'.

Ms Robison said: "We expect our health boards to get on with essential repairs and maintenance as quickly as it can.

"The schedule has been set out to 2026, there will be good reason for that in terms of the funding availability.

"I am sure that will be something that the health board will keep under review to deliver on those commitments as quickly as possible."

Asked if there was any more funding available for the hospital, she said: "Generally, the NHS gets the lion's share of Scottish Government funding and that will continue to be the case.

"We pass all the consequentials we get for health from the UK Government onto health services but of course the demand on services continues to grow with an ageing population, so we need to keep sure we keep with innovations, things like Compassionate Inverclyde are very important because they support the NHS and support the staff from the NHS.

"We need to be quite innovative about the way we spend the money we have to make sure we have a service that is fit for the future."