Newsletter

Dumfries and Galloway Hospital Closure Proposal Shelved

Consultation on plans which could have closed five cottage hospitals, including Kirkcudbright Hospital, has been put on hold for at least 18 months.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway said the move would allow it time to review its proposals in light of public opinion.

It follows widespread opposition to its favoured modernisation option which would have seen some hospitals closed.

The consultation will not restart until after next year's Scottish Parliament elections by which time a new publicly-elected health board will be in place.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway had put forward a range of possible options for modernising services.

Its favoured plan included closing sites at Moffat, Lochmaben, Thornhill, Langholm and Kirkcudbright.

It provoked opposition in many of the communities affected.

Health board chairman Mike Keggans said the board wanted to review the options and see how they might be "enhanced to reflect the views of the public".

"At this stage it is difficult to put an exact timescale for this review," he said.

He said it would be important that a new NHS board, due to be elected in June, had time to understand the "issues and challenges" facing it.

He said that due to the Scottish Parliament elections he anticipated that formal consultation on "revised options" would start in the summer of 2011.

As a result of the decision, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has cancelled a series of consultation meetings planned for February.

Source: BBC News, 4 Feb 2010