Health chiefs axe plan to send city patients to West Lothian

Published on Saturday 25 April 2009 10:10

CONTROVERSIAL plans to refer people in the west of Edinburgh to a Livingston hospital for treatment have been shelved.

NHS Lothian wanted GPs to recommend those who required hospital care and live in areas such as Morningside, Corstorphine and Blackhall to go St John's Hospital rather than the Western General or ERI.

This prompted fury among those in the west of the city, some of whom lived minutes away from the Western but would have to trek 15 miles to West Lothian.

However, the Evening News has learned that many board members were unhappy with the plans, and particularly unconvinced that the journey would only take an extra ten minutes, as previously argued by health chiefs.

It has now been put on ice and NHS insiders say it is unlikely to happen, although a scaled-down version could be phased in.

NHS bosses conceded that transport links from the city to the hospital were not yet good enough to expect often frail patients to commute.

Board members were told: "This workstream initially developed principles and good practices for the definition of hospital catchment areas for unscheduled hospital medical admissions.

"Patient and public involvement workshops were held involving the community areas identified as possible geographical areas for realignment. A major concern highlighted at these workshops was equitable access to public transport and social services.

"Until these issues are addressed, the proposed new zoning boundaries will not be implemented."

Despite the fury of people in the west of Edinburgh, the scheme did have its advantages.

It would have provided St John's with an extra 1000 patients a year at a time when West Lothian activists are criticising the health board for taking services away from the hospital.

It would also have taken the strain off the ERI and Western, and although GPs were urged to refer patients differently in what is known as the West Edinburgh Corridor 1, people would still have retained the right to refuse.

Tina Woolnough, chairwoman of the Blackhall Community Association, said there was widespread relief in the area.

She said: "We did have meetings about this and a number of elderly people approached me expressing concern about the possibility of having to go to St John's.

"The NHS did say there would be a choice about this but a lot of people were worried about pressure being applied to them, and sometimes when you have people who are unwell and require hospital treatment, it doesn't take much to cause concern."