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Friday, 07 July 2006 09:24 | BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
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The Scottish National Party (SNP) yesterday pledged to fight next year's Scottish elections with a campaign to save Monklands accident and emergency department that is set to be closed.
The party warned that if the department was allowed to shut, as planned by NHS Lanarkshire, then the very existence of the hospital would be in question.
Alex Neil, a central Scotland MSP, said the plans were a "risk to life and limb".
He said that if the SNP won control at next year's elections, it would immediately reverse the decision.
The closure plans still have to be approved by the Scottish Executive.
Mr Neil said he was meeting Lewis MacDonald, the deputy health minister in the near future to try to avert the closure. But he said if this were not possible, the final hope for Monklands A&E would be for a new SNP-led Scottish Parliament to overturn the decision.
"At the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections all the SNP candidates standing in North Lanarkshire will do so on a dual mandate, as prospective SNP MSPs and as 'Save the Monklands A&E' candidates.
"The SNP believes that NHS Lanarkshire's proposals to shut the A&E unit at Monklands hospital are deeply flawed, illogical and are a risk to life and limb for the people of Lanarkshire," Mr Neil said.
The hospital is also in the Airdrie and Shotts constituency of John Reid, the Home Secretary, who earlier this year joined protesters forming a human chain around Monklands.
Yesterday, Mr Neil said: "If John Reid really wants to save Monklands then he had better vote SNP next year”.
A spokeswoman for NHS Lanarkshire said: "There is a need for three hospitals in Lanarkshire - two emergency hospitals and a planned care hospital. Monklands will remain an important hospital, providing specialist care and to achieve this we will be investing up to £100 million to upgrade the hospital”.
A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "These proposals have been given to ministers, they will be considered carefully and a decision made in due course”.
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