On 24th January 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for Health placed Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board into special measures. As a result of that, the decision was made to close GP Out of Hours services at Inverclyde Royal Hospital and Greenock Health Centre.
Since then, an Out of Hours Service has only been available one day a week at Inverclyde Royal Hospital. In January 2023, the Greenock Telegraph reported that there are no plans to reinstate a full GP out of hours service - with an out of hours centre open seven days a week - in Inverclyde. In Autumn 2023, the Health Board began consultation on making the current arrangement permanent.
We call on the Health Secretary and the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board to reverse this closure and to restore a full out of hours service in Inverclyde.
Why is this important?
The GP out of hours service in Inverclyde has been under pressure for some time with regular closures. This means that patients routinely have to travel to Paisley or Glasgow for treatment overnight. This puts patients at risk and for many in Inverclyde means a journey of over 20 miles just to see a GP.
These changes come amid warnings of further service cuts at Inverclyde Royal Hospital and many trauma services also being moved to Paisley and Glasgow.
Inverclyde needs a fully functioning health service and, at the very least, that means a full GP service.
How it will be delivered
We will email the list of petitioner's names to the Health Board as part of the public consultation
