Johnstone hits out at Scottish Ministers over lack of urgency on children's services at St John's
Alison Johnstone, Health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, today hit out at Scottish Ministers for a "complete lack of urgency" over long-running staffing issues that have reduced children's services at St John's hospital in Livingston.
Responding to a statement in Parliament by the Health Secretary, Alison said:
"Local MSPs have received repeated assurances from NHS Lothian that the St John's issue is receiving the highest level of priority but we have heard this for far too long. Today we heard that a sustainable future will take between 3 and 5 years to achieve. There is an ongoing lack of urgency in this matter and the Scottish Government must stress to NHS Lothian that this is unacceptable and set a target date for the re-opening of the inpatient paediatric ward.
"The lack of 24/7 care at the children’s ward at St John’s has caused distress for many years and needs resolved now. Lengthy waits for treatment and the transfer of ill children to Edinburgh cannot go on."