Cardiac care - 'Inconvenience could be price worth paying'

The move to centralise emergency cardiac care at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary will set alarm bells ringing for patients across the Lothians.

For thousands every year it will mean being transferred straight to Little France for treatment that they have been used to receiving at their local hospital. It seems certain that the axe will eventually fall on acute cardiac care at St John's in Livingston and quite possibly at the Western General too.

We are told the change will mean better and faster treatment for those affected, but that is not the whole story.

Talk of shorter waits at the ERI conveniently glosses over the hour-long round trip that St John's patients, for instance, will have to make before the clock starts ticking on their "official" waiting time at Little France.

Everyone agrees the extra travelling will not create any additional health risks, but the huge inconvenience cannot be ignored.

The best outcome for patients at St John's and the Western General would be improving in-house services, rather than sending them on round trips of up to 40 miles to the ERI, but that presumably is too expensive.

Perhaps the inconvenience is a price worth paying in order to create a high-quality and efficient service for everyone across the Lothians.

Regardless of any political pledges to protect NHS spending in Scotland, we all know that our health service is facing huge and growing financial pressures.

We must have an open and honest debate about what is realistic within the budget available. And that debate should include what other services might face similar centralisation plans in the near future.

Bravery supported

The response to the Evening News-backed appeal to secure the future of the Mark Wright Project has been amazing.

Earlier this year, Bob and Jem Wright were considering selling their war hero son's George Cross medal in order to prevent the closure of the centre they set up in his memory.

Now, after 60,000 has poured in in three months, the future of its services offering practical and emotional support to veterans is looking a little brighter.

The vast majority of donations so far have come in small amounts like a pound thrown into a collection bucket or a pledge on a colleague's marathon sponsor form.

It just goes to show how much Corporal Wright's bravery - and that of his colleagues - has moved the people of Scotland.