A grandfather who underwent life-saving surgery for cancer is putting the NHS at the heart of his campaign to be elected as a councillor.

Ted Runciman, 77, returned to the area after spending 40 years down south and said the area has changed a great deal.

He's standing as the Scottish Conservatives' candidate in the Inverclyde West by-election next month.

He says that now all the heavy industry has gone from Inverclyde, his main concern is Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

The 77-year-old who hails from Langbank but settled back in Castlebank in Port Glasgow, said: "It's a very different area from what I remember. I remember the shipyards, which are all gone now.

"I do think the NHS has suffered. I have experience from a personal level, having waited two and a half years for a knee replacement.

"The NHS is very important and especially Inverclyde Royal Hospital, seeing maternity and surgical services being moved away.

"I feel that is a shame for the local community, especially on the maternity side. If there are any problems at all they have to go to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley."

He also spoke about his own personal experience of having treatment for cancer.

He said: "I had cancer of the thyroid and I had an operation in Hertfordshire before I came back to Inverclyde. It wasn't long after I had lost my previous partner to cancer."

Mr Runciman, who spent 40 years working in human resources, underwent surgery in Hertfordshire which he was told would be a straight-forward procedure but which ended up lasting five and half hours.

He said: "I was later told by the surgeon that if they had gone any further I could have lost my voice. They said they wouldn't want to go back to do that again."

Luckily the operation was successful, and he was told that he would undergo an annual check.

But he says that when he moved back to Scotland those check-ups never happened and he ended up having to return to Hertfordshire for his appointment.

"At least down south they were giving me check-ups," he said.

"I think the NHS in the local area still needs improvement and we need more doctors and nurses."

Other issues close to his heart includes the cost-of-living crisis.

"It's very hard for people in Inverclyde," he added.

"It is one of the most deprived areas in Scotland. It's lost all of its industry, shipyards, the only real work."

He added: "I would certainly endeavour to get the NHS money and target the care where it is needed and I would like to make sure that IRH is looked after."

Mr Runciman, who stood for the Conservatives in the last full council election in 2022 and again in Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West at the general election in July, said he would also fight to get the winter fuel payment re-instated.

He said: "It's a big issue for a lot of people. We have an ageing population. It's a disgrace that the government should do this.

"People have paid into national insurance all their lives and with energy prices going up, this is the time that they really need help. But the government is taking that away. I think that is unforgivable."

He also said that Gourock's much-admired outdoor pool only "survived on a knife-edge", and said it was vital to ensure such facilities were maintained locally.

The Inverclyde West by-election will take place on Thursday, November 7 between 7am and 10pm.