Health Secretary rules out building new hospital on Monklands site

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has been accused of having “slapped a closure order'' on a busy hospital after she ruled out replacing it with a new building on the same site.

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said it was a “betrayal'' of the local community not to replace Monklands Hospital in Airdrie with a new facility on its existing grounds.

Ms Freeman said constructing a new building there would take longer, cost more and risk causing infection among patients being treated at Monklands.

She said there was therefore “little point'' in health bosses at NHS Lanarkshire including this option in a re-evaluation process.

Elaine Smith, a Labour MSP for Central Scotland, challenged the Health Secretary on the decision, saying she had “slapped a closure order'' on Monklands.

The health board has been considering future options as the facility there is more than 40 years old.

A proposal for a new hospital to be built in Gartcosh was discussed but thousands of locals signed a petition calling for the replacement to be built on the existing site.

An independent review into the decision-making process “identified areas of improvements'' for the NHS Lanarkshire but found no evidence of “deliberate fixing or deception'' in the consultation.

It has now recommended NHS Lanarkshire bring in new external members to help them re-evaluate - with Ms Freeman pledging alternatives to Gartcosh and the other possible new site in Glenmavis would be considered.

She said this would help “ensure that the most appropriate site is identified through the option appraisal process and it is supported by the local community''.

But Ms Freeman said she had “asked that the option of re-providing on the existing site at Monklands be excluded from the re-evaluation as building a new hospital on an existing hospital site takes longer, costs more, risks infection and other patient safety issues, while creating performance and access issues during the long construction phase''.

The Health Secretary said: “There is therefore little point in including an option which will score poorly in the option appraisal process.''

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said: “Excluding the existing site from further consultation on the future of Monklands hospital is nothing short of a betrayal of the local community.''

He added: “A further consultation on appropriate sites is clearly needed, and the process going forward should be as open and transparent as possible. That's why all options must remain on the table.

“Scottish Labour pressure delivered this review - we are clear that Monklands hospital should remain in the Monklands community, and that is what we will continue to fight for.''

Ms Freeman however insisted Labour should “stick to the facts instead of making it up as they go along''.

Speaking in Holyrood, the Health Secretary said: “I have not slapped a closed order on Monklands Hospital.

“What I have repeated is this Government's absolute commitment to source a replacement for Monklands Hospital.

“What I have ruled out is making that replacement on the current site for a number of reasons.''

She added: “There is no room around the existing hospital to build a new hospital, to build a new hospital on that site would require the demolition of the current hospital, the current hospital's capacity could not be picked up in the rest of Lanarkshire therefore patients would wait longer for the treatment they need.

“There is also an issue of patient safety, if you construct a new build alongside an operating hospital of that proximity.''

She added NHS Lanarkshire would now “take forward all of this with some speed but making sure the local communities voices are well heard''.