Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton Constituency, has welcomed the news that the GP Out of Hours service at the Vale of Leven hospital will be reinstated in full. This comes after years of campaigning by Jackie Baillie, and local groups to ensure that the GP Out of Hours service had the support it needed to operate.

Over the past year, Jackie Baillie has met with local GPs and community groups such as the Lomond Patients Group and Hospitalwatch to work with them on how best to deliver out of hours services for the area.

Jackie Baillie has also been contacted by constituents who have been sent as far as Paisley and East Kilbride to be seen by an Out of Hours GP, due to the fact that the local Vale of Leven service has been closed.

Furthermore, Jackie Baillie proposed the local GP led solution to the Cabinet Secretary for Health when she visited the Vale of Leven hospital last year, which the Government committed to taking on board. Since then substantial work has been undertaken by local GPs and the health board to deliver on that promise.

Jackie Baillie MSP said:

“The news that a full GP Out of Hours service at the Vale of Leven is going to be reinstated is certainly welcome. This is a long time coming and would not have been achieved without the dedication of local people to keep fighting for their vital services.

“On far too many occasions over the last few years, far too many services at the Vale of Leven have been cut back. Now more than ever, local people need local access to healthcare. Our thanks should go to the local GPs who have stepped up to the plate. If it wasn’t for them we would not have the Out of Hours Service or the Medical Assessment Unit at the Vale.”