Scottish Catholic Observer

Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board has said it is willing to negotiate with St Margaret of Scotland Hospice over funding cuts.

The Public Petition’s committee of the Scottish parliament had criticised the health board on Tuesday after hearing from supporters of the hospice who felt the board was treating the facility unfairly.

In a statement the board said they ‘look forward to receiving the Public Petitions Committee’s recommendations and in the meantime we will continue to maintain our dialogue with St Margaret’s.’

In today’s Scottish Catholic Observer Des McNulty, Labour MSP for Clydebank and Milingave, said he was ‘delighted’ that the committee were responsive to his concerns.

“However we’re getting frustrated that there is no progress from the health board,” he said. “They’re refusing to get into a constructive dialogue and it’s a mystery as to why they want to impose change on a hospice which is so successful.”

The heath board has since outlined its position.

“St Margaret’s Hospice in Clydebank consists of two wards—one providing specialist palliative (hospice) care to people of all ages and the other providing continuing care for older people on behalf of the Health Board. We remain committed to continuing to fund the palliative service which St. Margaret’s provides for terminally ill patients. There are absolutely no plans to cut our funding for this service or close any of the palliative beds provided for terminally ill patients,” it says.

“We also pay St Margaret’s £1.2 million every year to provide 28 long-term NHS continuing care beds. In 2005 the board advised the hospice, as part of an elderly care needs assessment, that the balance between continuing care and care home placements needed to be adjusted based on changing needs. As such we advised St Margaret’s that we wanted to keep these 28 beds, however in response to demand in the west of the city, we asked them to change the use of these beds from NHS beds to care home places on behalf of the local authorities.”

The board added it believes its approach towards St Margaret’s is in ‘keeping with what is happening throughout the rest of Scotland.’

“Nothing is being asked of St Margaret’s which is any different from what is happening elsewhere in the country and across Greater Glasgow and Clyde. We have already worked successfully in Greater Glasgow with four other providers of long-term NHS continuing care beds to change and adapt their services in line with national policy and future local needs,” the statement concludes.

“It has been five years since we first raised this issue with St Margaret’s and we remain committed to maintaining our dialogue with them.”