Former health secretary Alex Neil said news that a planned £2.1bn replacement would not go ahead was “a hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland.”
Monklands General Hospital(Image: Getty)
A decision to axe plans to replace the crumbling Monklands Hospital in Lanarkshire has been decribed as an “utter betrayal”.
Former health secretary Alex Neil, said the decision by the SNP Government to reject NHS plans for a new £2.1 billion health campus in Airdrie was a “hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland”.
And North Lanarkshire Council has said it was “surprised” to learn plans were ditched. The local authority said it was “urgently seeking clarity” over the proposals.
Current health secretary Angela Constance announced on Thursday that the current plans were too expensive. But that has raised questions about when the Scottish Government knew about the cost.
The business case for the new hospital was presented to the government in December last year after being approved by the board of NHS Lanarkshire, the Daily Record reports.
Since then however there had been no movement until an SNP spokesperson claimed in April – just days before the recent Holyrood election – that it was “not true” to suggest the project would be scaled back or delayed.
The crumbling Monklands hospital is plagued by maintenance issues. It is part of the Airdrie constituency of former Health Secretary SNP minister Neil Gray.
Alex Neil, a former MSP for Airdrie, called on Gray to resign from Government over the decision.
He said: “The SNP government originally planned to have a new Monklands hospital built by 2016. Then it was delayed until 2032. Now it appears to have been delayed indefinitely.
“Not only is this unacceptable, it is a hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland.
“During the election campaign, when it became public knowledge that the Scottish Government had not approved the business plan for the new hospital presented to it by NHS Lanarkshire, I stated publicly that this was a clear sign that this project was now in doubt.
“The SNP issued a statement suggesting that this was not the case. Clearly that was a lie. They engaged in deception of the worst kind.
“As a former Health Secretary I am absolutely sure that the Scottish Government would have been aware of the estimated costs of the hospital long before 2026 so why did they not redesign the business plan for the hospital to allow it to be delivered by the promised timeframe of 2032?
“This decision is a hammer to the people of the Monklands and the rest of Lanarkshire.
“I am also sorry to say that my friend Neil Gray has no choice now but to resign from the Scottish Cabinet. Not to do so will totally undermine his position as the local MSP for Airdrie and Shotts.”
Angela Constance told MSPs on Thursday there was now an “ambition” to redesign the plans and suggested work could begin in 2028 instead.
Constance said: “The Government will deliver a new Monklands hospital. That commitment has not changed and it will not change.
“However, having carefully considered the full business case that was submitted by NHS Lanarkshire, I cannot approve it in its current form within our current financial landscape. That is not a decision that I have taken lightly.
“Under the reset approach, we will move at pace to complete the redesign over the next year and bring forward revised options by the middle of 2027.
“Subject to ministerial decisions, the design will then progress, with an ambition to begin construction in 2028.
“We will set clear milestones, including completion of the redesign, agreement of the final scheme and the start of construction. We will ensure demonstrable progress during this parliamentary session.”