Vale maternity plan 'will save taxpayers'

Why? Because, she says, the maternity unit at the Vale hospital is going to be closed, and she wants you to witness her trying to save it.

In fact, the maternity unit is not being closed, which is why she refuses to show anyone her “leaked document”.

What is actually being proposed, by the Labour-led health board, is to move the ever-decreasing number of births from the Vale to Paisley or Glasgow.

This will save local taxpayers £250,000 to spend on other NHS needs.

Far from being “unthinkable”, the vast majority of women are already choosing the higher-tech facilities of city hospitals; of those who don’t, nearly half have to be moved there anyway during labour, when complications arise.

It is true that more pregnancies are now placed in the high-risk category; but the bottom line is, this has resulted in the highest survival rate ever for babies.

Mums are voting with their feet and making sure their baby has the best chance.

Why should we pay for a birth service that is increasingly not wanted?

Meanwhile, other maternity services at the Vale, such as ante-natal check-ups and scans, are incredibly popular and are not threatened at all; why does Baillie not praise these, instead of implying they will be axed when they are in no danger whatsoever?

Why does she spend so little time praising and promoting the many, many other excellent services and staff at the Vale?

She would have you think the Vale’s future depends on babies being born there instead of 17 miles away.

In fact the Vale is not closing and not threatened; this service change is welcomed by the majority of mums and midwives alike.

Susan Walton,

via email

JACKIE Baillie should read documents carefully before accusing me or anyone else of “libellous nonsense” (letters, December 1).

Apart from the fact that libel is not a civil wrong in Scots law, who would dare think that Jackie had such a conceit of herself that she would promote herself as the new CEO of Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board?

But I can assure her, and your readers, that it has been discussed among some politicians and clinicians.

I am well aware that a sitting MSP cannot hold such a post but there is precedent for Parliamentarians to give up their seat and undertake a public appointment of national importance.

It’s all very well campaigning for the Vale of Leven Hospital, but if Jackie was willing to put herself forward for consideration as the new CEO, she could cease campaigning and actually have the power to deliver what she has promised the people of this area throughout her parliamentary career.

As the future of the Vale of Leven Hospital defines Jackie Baillie’s tenure as our MSP, here is an opportunity for her to step up and take executive action and save the Vale, if she really means what she has said.

Graeme McCormick,

Convener,

SNP Dumbarton Constituency Association,

Arden

FAKE news is not a new phenomenon, but thankfully now we have access via the internet to a range of sources which can allow us to seek the truth.

I don’t know where Angus Young (Helensburgh Advertiser, December 1) gets his figures from with regard to MP expenses, but it is not from the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) website.

If he had taken a moment to check before rushing to press he would have found, for example, that total expenses for Alan Reid, the previous MP for Argyll and Bute, amounted to £176,684 for 2013-14 while equivalent expenses for Brendan O’Hara, our current SNP MP, were only £170,675 in the year 2015-16.

There is also the question of value for money.

Mr Young can check the They Work For You website where he will find that in the last year Brendan O’Hara took part in 53 debates in the House of Commons and received answers to 61 written questions.

By comparison, the previous incumbent spoke in 41 debates and got answers to only two written questions in his last year in office.

Mr Young is right about one thing – he hasn’t been looking hard enough.

These facts alone should help to reassure him that our hardworking team of SNP MPs are indeed standing up for Scotland and I am sure that the many constituents who have received support from Brendan O’Hara and his team will agree.

Eleanor Hunter,

Helensburgh

ANGUS Young must still be wiping the egg off his face after his massive gaffe in last week’s letters page.

The figures he quoted for expense claims made by our Westminster MPs, which he presumably got from right-wing newspapers, turned out to be wildly inaccurate.

Actual claims made by SNP MPs are £1.5 million lower than reported, prompting demands for an apology by the SNP.

The correct expense reports, as provided by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, show that expense claims made by Scottish MPs (including Mr Salmond) are significantly lower than in the previous parliament, where the majority of Scottish MPs were Unionist.

In addition to this, SNP members have a far greater contribution rate to Westminster debates, making our standing MPs over twice the value for money of the previous incumbents.

Iain McLaren,

Dumbarton

I WRITE to respond to Eleanor Hunter’s letter last week where she defended the SNP’s raid of local council tax.

The issue I raised in my Focus newsletter, currently being distributed in the town, is that the SNP at Holyrood have decided to massively increase council tax for those living in houses in bands E, F, G and H while not allowing local councillors any say in the matter.

Even worse, local people will not see the full benefit of that increase.

As the council’s head of strategic finance has indicated, while the SNP have still not had the courtesy to share the full details of their plans with councils, the expectation is that Argyll and Bute will see £800,000 of the money raised locally seized by the Scottish Government and given to other areas.

As a Liberal Democrat candidate who stood in the Holyrood elections in May, I absolutely support the prioritisation of education.

The Liberal Democrats made it clear how we were going to raise funds to prioritise education, and also made it clear how we were going to spend those funds.

The SNP have failed entirely on both counts, and have also broken their 2007 and 2011 manifesto promises to abolish council tax – choosing instead to increase it to raise money for a national policy, rather than implement a fair system that works for local people.

Cllr Aileen Morton,

(Liberal Democrat, Helensburgh Central)

A COUPLE of years ago, Helensburgh and Lomond Carers staff thought it might be a good idea to start a “knit and natter” group to help take carers out of their caring role for a little while.

This idea grew quickly and culminated in the group taking a stall, first at the monthly market in October, then last weekend at the Winter Festival, raising much needed funds for the centre.

This could not have happened without the support of the many people who donated wool or knitted garments (non-members as well) and the fantastic support from the fantastic duo in the Terrace coffee shop, who lent us support in so many ways, from giving us a stall in October to try out our salesmanship to keeping an eye on us, making sure we were fed and watered regularly.

We also have to thank Robert and Donald, who paid for our stall at the weekend, all our knitters for the stock, and all the lovely people who not only parted with their cash but gave us such great feedback on our goods, and not forgetting Lynn and Pamela from the centre, who came along to support us on the stall and admire the lovely banner Robert arranged for us.

All these people, and probably many more I have missed out, enabled us to raise some much needed cash for the centre.

So thank you all for everything, and watch out for us at a future date – we will be back.

We had set ourselves a target of raising £1,000 before Christmas and I am delighted to say we have now passed the magic figure.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way.

Gladys Stephenson and Caroline Brown,

Helensburgh and Lomond Carers Centre