News item 1st October 2008

Amendment Madness.

We understand there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth within the corridors of power as a result of a recent amendment presented by our party at the meeting of WLC on 23rd. September 2008. For the reader’s information and delectation, it is included here.

This was a political response to a Motion by the Labour Party, whose failure to support our amendment left us stunned and perplexed, given the weakness of their own vague Motion.

Despite this being a matter for the political arena, there are those whose unbridled arrogance leads them to believe they have the right to vet the content of our responses. For the avoidance of doubt, this Party will not be fettered by others, who very wrongly assume they can simply veto the will of the elected representatives of the people of West Lothian. That will not be tolerated.

We, unlike them, will allow the people to judge who they want to speak for them: their elected representatives or an unelected cabal whose addiction to the oxygen of power has dulled their senses.

They should waken up and smell the coffee.

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Action to Save St. John’s Hospital Party

Amendment to Motion submitted by Councillor Lawrence Fitzpatrick
on 23rd. September 2008

St. John’s Hospital at Howden

“This Council welcomes the support from the Cabinet Secretary for the formation of the St. John’s Hospital Stakeholder Group, and further notes the decision taken at its meeting on Friday 19th. September 2008 that West Lothian Council commission an independent report on the viability of elective orthopaedic and emergency surgery at St. John’s.”

In noting the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing’s Annual Review of NHS Lothian, this Council welcomes her further assurances about the future of St. John’s hospital as one of 3 acute emergency hospitals in Lothians, following her previous statement that St. John’s would remain a Level 3 Intensive Treatment Unit.

Notwithstanding that support, West Lothian Council continues to be concerned about the approach to the provision of services at St. John’s Hospital, and in particular NHS Lothian Policy being made without proper scrutiny or modelling.

West Lothian Council calls upon the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing to keep all matters under constant review in respect of service re-design and modelling, and to keep all options regarding service provision at St. John’s open. This would be complimentary to the ambitions of NHS Lothian as stated by Dr. Charles Swainson, Medical Director at the Annual Review that “there is no centralisation of services” within NHS Lothian.

West Lothian Council notes the NHS Lothian proposals to improve services at St. John’s through consideration of;

• development to the rear of the hospital for clinical space - however existing space within hospital would require to be optimised before this option was developed further;

• New medical front door to left of Accident and Emergency on ground floor;

• Endoscopy suite development on ground floor;

• Short-Stay Elective Surgical Unit redevelopment on ground floor;

• Amalgamation of High Dependency Unit and Intensive Therapy Unit on ground floor as part of a 'hot' area;

• Direct Patient Care space on first floor, would require relocation of University space within hospital;

• Dental (Salaried Primary Care Dental Service) - conversion of staff smoking room on first floor;

• Freeing-up non-clinical space on the second floor which could be used for Out Patient and/or Head and Neck space - this would require relocation of non-clinical staff to building on SJH site outwith main hospital building;

• Decant ward to facilitate rolling programme of window/roof replacement;

• SJH as a world leader for Head and Neck - closer links with ERI bio-quarter

• 'Hot/Cold' model of patient care in order to optimise clinical space within SJH - hot areas grouped together for more-ill patients, cold areas for less ill patients (staffing ratios would be relative) - model would require implementation of a number of the above developments and a re-worked admissions unit.

In order to best consider all of the above, and specifically the potential to return emergency surgery and elective orthopaedics to the hospital, and to facilitate the delivery of the remit of the St. John’s Hospital Stakeholder Group, West Lothian Council agrees to appoint a consultant to consider all of these issues and to report to the Chair of the St. John’s Hospital Stakeholder Group detailing what services are best delivered from St. John’s, and how services at St. John’s should be best configured, to meet the needs of the West Lothian community and the wider Lothian community.