NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board has decided, without any consultation, to close the GP Out of Hours service at the Vale of Leven Hospital at evenings and weekends. This means that you will only be able to access GP Out of Hours from midnight to 8am on weekdays from Monday – Friday.

Jackie has called on the Cabinet Secretary to sack the Chair and Chief Executive of the Health Board for failing local people.

Please sign the petition that will be presented to the Cabinet Secretary for Health calling for the reinstatement of the Out of Hours service at the Vale.

Why is this important?

The GP Out of Hours service in the Vale of Leven hospital has been under pressure for some time. It has been closed 179 times in 2019 and 82 times in 2018. This means that patients routinely have to travel to Paisley or Glasgow for treatment overnight. This puts patients at risk and for many in Dumbarton, Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Lomond means a journey of over 20 miles just to see a GP.

These changes come despite the agreement of the Cabinet Secretary for Health that things needed to improve, following her visit to the Vale of Leven hospital in 2019. Instead, things have gotten worse. The health board is claiming that this is a temporary consolidation of services due to significant challenges in GP availability but admitted in their report that they anticipate the redesign of the service will take 18-24 months.

The people of Dumbarton, Vale of Leven, Helensburgh and Lomond need a fully functioning health service and, at the very least, that means a full GP Out of Hours service at the Vale of Leven Hospital.