SCOTLAND'S health secretary is under increasing pressure from Helensburgh's MSP Jackie Baillie to keep pre-election promises to protect local NHS services.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is consulting on proposals to close the birthing unit at the Vale of Leven Hospital and centralise services at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley or the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

On a recent visit to the Vale, Ms Baillie and Labour health spokesperson Anas Sarwar stated that they want health secretary Shona Robison to make the decision on the community maternity unit and support the Vision for the Vale.

Ms Baillie has been extremely outspoken regarding the possible closure of the Community Maternity Unit at the Vale after finding out about the plans.

She said: "In advance of the election I was accused of scare mongering, of lying. We found leaked papers from Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and lo and behold, people in my constituency got leaflets through the door with promises from the first minister, promises from the health minister, Shona Robison, saying nothing would happen to the Vale, that they valued the Vale of Leven.

"As soon as the election was over GGC formalised their proposals for the closure of the Vale of Leven birthing unit together with a number of other cuts across Glasgow, so who is scare mongering now?"

The Labour MSP wants the decision to rest with Ms Robison rather than the health board. Having the closure designated as a “major service change” means that it will end up on the health minister's desk.

Ms Baillie added: "If we're going to have any kind of democratic accountability of the NHS then the decision has to be made by the health minister and to be frank I think that's my best means of saving the maternity unit because the health minister was the one that promised it would be safe."

Mr Sarwar went along on the visit so that, as the Labour health spokesperson, he could see the importance of the unit at a local level.

Commenting on the NHS in the grander scheme, he said: "From a national perspective the reality is that there are cuts being made to our NHS and those cuts are having a dire impact on patient care, a dire impact on patient choice and also a dire impact on our already under-resourced, over-worked and under-valued NHS staff.

"That's happening at a national level. What that means locally is that promises were made to the local community here that the Vale of Leven services and their hospital would be protected and would be promoted."

The Scottish government also came under fire from Ms Baillie for "dressing up standard maintenance" after they announced £600,000 being spent on the Vale of Leven Hospital on required health and safety maintenance.

Ms Robison defended the government's promises, saying: “It was this government that ended a decade of damaging uncertainty by approving the ‘Vision for the Vale’ of Leven Hospital in 2009 and we have been consistently clear that we see a bright future for the hospital, which plays a crucial role in the local healthcare system.

“Whilst it is right for Health Boards to keep services under review to ensure they remain of the highest quality, it is important to note that no final decisions have been made on these proposals.”