Patients and staff deserve the truth about cuts at the Vale of Leven Hospital before the election, local MSP Jackie Baillie has said today.
 

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde published board papers today confirming that the health board would have to save £69 million in the coming financial year, despite a substantial uplift in budget.
 
The cuts are yet to be identified however, with a plan to be presented to the health board in ‘due course’.
 
The uncertainty of what these cuts will entail follows revelations about secret plans which identified the closure of the children’s ward at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital as well as emergency care and the maternity ward at the Vale of Leven.
 
These ‘secret cuts’ were dismissed by Nicola Sturgeon when she visited West Dunbartonshire this week on the basis that health boards did not yet know their budget uplift for the 2016/17 financial year.
 
This paper confirms that in  NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, the scale of cuts needed  have actually increased.
 
Jackie Baillie said  that patients and staff deserve the truth before the election.
 
Jackie said:
 
“Patients and  staff  have a right to know before they cast their votes what the cuts to their NHS will look like. This cannot be another key decision kicked into the long grass.
 
“Right now the health service covering some of the most deprived parts of Scotland is facing cuts of over £5 million a month for the next year. That is potentially devastating for staff and services at the Vale.
 

“Nicola Sturgeon tried to pull the wool over our eyes by saying that the leaked paper was only a draft written before the budget was decided. Well now we know the truth, the paper to the board says that the cuts to our NHS will be even deeper.

“The SNP promised to stand up for Scotland against austerity -; instead they are accepting austerity and it is our NHS that is paying the pr