Letter also sent to:- Constutuency MSP's Lothian List MSP's West Lothian MP's

DATA LABEL: PUBLIC

Corporate Services Committee Services Carol Johnston Chief Solicitor Sent by email to:- [email protected] Civic Centre Howden South Road Jeremy Balfour MSP Livingston The West Lothian EH54 6FF e-mail: [email protected] EH99 1SP Contact: Val Johnston Tel: 01506 281604

23 May 2018

Dear Mr Balfour

NOTICE OF MOTION – GP SERVICES IN STONEYBURN

A meeting of West Lothian Council was held on 22 May 2018, at which the Council agreed a Notice of Motion concerning GP Services in Stoneyburn.

I would be grateful if you could consider the terms of the Notice of Motion (copy attached). I would ask that your response be directed to Graham Hope, Chief Executive, West Lothian Council.

Yours sincerely

for Graham Hope Chief Executive

Enc

DATA LABEL: PUBLIC

Corporate Services Committee Services Carol Johnston Chief Solicitor Sent by email to:- [email protected] Civic Centre Howden South Road Shona Robison MSP Livingston Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport West Lothian EH54 6FF The Scottish Government e-mail: [email protected] St. Andrew's House Regent Road Contact: Val Johnston Tel: 01506 281604 Edinburgh EH1 3DG

23 May 2018

Dear Cabinet Secretary

NOTICE OF MOTION – GP SERVICES IN STONEYBURN

A meeting of West Lothian Council was held on 22 May 2018, at which the Council agreed a Notice of Motion concerning GP Services in Stoneyburn.

I would be grateful if you could consider the terms of the Notice of Motion (copy attached). I would ask that your response be directed to Graham Hope, Chief Executive, West Lothian Council.

Yours sincerely

for Graham Hope Chief Executive

Enc

DATA LABEL: PUBLIC

Corporate Services Committee Services Carol Johnston Chief Solicitor Sent by email to:- [email protected] Civic Centre Howden South Road Brian Houston Livingston Chair of NHS Lothian Board West Lothian EH54 6FF Office of the Chair e-mail: [email protected] Waverley Gate 2-4 Waterloo Place Contact: Val Johnston Tel: 01506 281604 EDINBURGH EH1 3EG

23 May 2018

Dear Mr Houston

NOTICE OF MOTION – GP SERVICES IN STONEYBURN

A meeting of West Lothian Council was held on 22 May 2018, at which the Council agreed a Notice of Motion concerning GP Services in Stoneyburn.

I would be grateful if you could consider the terms of the Notice of Motion (copy attached). I would ask that your response be directed to Graham Hope, Chief Executive, West Lothian Council.

Yours sincerely

for Graham Hope Chief Executive

Enc

DATA LABEL: PUBLIC

Corporate Services Committee Services Carol Johnston Chief Solicitor Sent by email to:- [email protected] Civic Centre Howden South Road Derek Mackay MSP Livingston Cabinet Secretary for Finance West Lothian EH54 6FF The Scottish Government e-mail: [email protected] St. Andrew's House Regent Road Contact: Val Johnston Tel: 01506 281604 Edinburgh EH1 3DG

23 May 2018

Dear Cabinet Secretary

NOTICE OF MOTION – MINIMUM UNIT PRICE

A meeting of West Lothian Council was held on 22 May 2018, at which the Council agreed a Notice of Motion concerning Minimum Unit Pricing.

I would be grateful if you could consider the terms of the Notice of Motion (copy attached). I would ask that your response be directed to Graham Hope, Chief Executive, West Lothian Council.

Yours sincerely

for Graham Hope Chief Executive

Enc

DATA LABEL: PUBLIC

Corporate Services Committee Services Carol Johnston Chief Solicitor Sent by email to:- [email protected] Civic Centre Howden South Road Shona Robison MSP Livingston Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport West Lothian EH54 6FF The Scottish Parliament e-mail: [email protected] Edinburgh EH99 1SP Contact: Val Johnston Tel: 01506 281604

23 May 2018

Dear Cabinet Secretary

NOTICE OF MOTION – MINIMUM UNIT PRICE

A meeting of West Lothian Council was held on 22 May 2018, at which the Council agreed a Notice of Motion concerning Minimum Unit Pricing.

I would be grateful if you could consider the terms of the Notice of Motion (copy attached). I would ask that your response be directed to Graham Hope, Chief Executive, West Lothian Council.

Yours sincerely

for Graham Hope Chief Executive

Enc

Dear Chief Executive,

I refer to the correspondence attached and am also responding on behalf of my Regional MSP colleagues Gordon Lindhurst and Jeremy Balfour.

We share the concerns of local residents and Councillors about the loss of GP services at Stoneyburn.

I confirm that all 3 of us have now supported the motion tabled by Neil Findlay MSP on this subject following the recent public meeting.

In addition I enclose below a recent written Parliamentary answer which I received from the Scottish Government for information.

Kind regards,

Miles Briggs MSP

Question S5W-16340: , Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Date Lodged: 02/05/2018 To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to the reported concerns raised by residents in the area regarding the impact of the closure of the Stoneyburn Health Centre GP service in West Lothian, and what discussions it has had with NHS Lothian about this.

Answered by Shona Robison (15/05/2018):

The West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) is planning on consolidating GP services for all patients registered at Breich Valley Medical Practice to the Partnership Centre site as of 1 June 2018 and to re-advertise the practice on this basis. Applicants would be offered the option of using the Stoneyburn branch for medical provision if they wished.

Additional support will continue in the form of the specially trained Paramedics to support home visits and GP Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioners. Community services will continue to be provided in Stoneyburn and housebound patients will receive exactly the same service as they do at the moment.

A letter has gone out last week to the whole practice population to advise them of the situation and the HSCP are continuing to work with the Practice to enable a smooth transition.

Our ambition is to increase the number of GPs by at least 800 over ten years to ensure a sustainable service that meets increasing demand.

Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15/05/2018

Dear Graham,

Thank you for the letter regarding GP services at Stoneyburn.

I attended the very large public meeting at Stoneyburn just a few weeks ago. The message from the people was clear and unambiguous – they reject the proposal to move GP services (even temporarily) to Fauldhouse as it would disproportionately impact on the elderly, the low paid and people who not have their own transport. There is also a lack of a footpath for those who want to walk and bus services are poor.

Since the meeting I have raised this with the Scottish Government through oral and written Parliamentary Questions, motions and letters to Ministers and to NHS Lothian. So far the responses have been wholly inadequate.

According to the Royal College of GPs, requires 856 GPs just to stand still. The system currently relies on locums and it would collapse without them.

The blame for this mess lies with the complete failure of adequate workforce planning by the Scottish Government and I fear we will see this situation repeated in other towns and villages before long.

Please be assured I will be taking every opportunity to keep up the pressure on the Scottish Govt and NHS Lothian to get this mess sorted out. In the meantime the minimum that should be provided is part time provision at Stoneyburn (maybe mornings only) until a sustainable full time GP presence can be established.

Best wishes

Neil Findlay MSP Scottish Parliament Room M1 06 Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Telephone 0131 348 6896

Regional Office 4 Northfield Court West Calder West Lothian EH55 8DS

01506 873242 www.neilfindlaymsp.com