Monklands Accident and Emergency
On behalf of NHS Lanarkshire Board, Chairman Ken Corsar acknowledged the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing’s announcement today (Wednesday, June 6) to reverse the previous ministerially approved decision regarding the provision of future Accident and Emergency services at Monklands Hospital.
He said: “We note the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing’s early clarification on the process and timescale for the review process and look forward to working closely with the Executive and the Independent Panel, once it has been established.
"NHS Lanarkshire’s plan for modernising local health services in Lanarkshire, as described in A Picture of Health, set out a £300m investment in primary care, community and hospital services and was fully in line with the principles of the Kerr Report.
"This provided a programme for improving the health of the people of Lanarkshire through the provision of sustainable and safe services that focussed on shifting the balance of care from hospitals to community services.
"We do not underestimate the challenge to identify proposals that will maintain there Accident and Emergencies in Lanarkshire that fulfil the Cabinet Secretary’s commitment to be safe, sustainable, patient-centred, evidence-based and value for money.
"Following this announcement today we will develop a process, which will be led by clinical staff, with the remit of identifying proposals that meet the Cabinet Secretary’s commitment. We will work within the timescales set by the Executive to produce proposals that explore all of the issues and their implications.
"Along with the Executive we are keen to ensure the integrity of the developments in A Picture of Health are maintained and look forward to an early decision being made. This will help to minimise the impact on the progression of the existing developments."
Download a copy of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing's letter to NHS Lanarkshire about Monklands A&E.