Local MSP for the Linlithgow Constituency, Fiona Hyslop, has expressed her deep concerns at the IJB’s decision to officially close St Michael’s Hospital in Linlithgow and Tippethill House Hospital In Armadale.
Fiona commented,
“I am extremely disappointed that the West Lothian IJB has agreed to permanently close St Michael’s Hospital in Linlithgow and Tippethill in Armadale, both vital services in my Constituency providing intermediary step down care and end of life care.
“This short sighted decision will only add to an already pressured sector with an ever increasing and aging population in West Lothian – set to have twice the national average of pensionable aged people within the next 25 years.
“Closing St Michael’s and Tippethill when there is bed availability needed to relieve acute hospital bed use by patients, particularly elderly patients who could be well nursed and supported at community hospitals seems completely contradictory based on what NHS Lothian relayed only in June in a meeting with MSPs and certainly can aid delayed discharge.”
“I will continue to liaise with the West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership about the closure of these important hospitals to ensure that patients and their families will be at the centre of any future progress on this matter.”
ENDS