Health chief supports new hospital for Glasgow

Tom Divers, the incoming chief executive of Glasgow’s new
health authority, has spoken out in favour of building a brand new
‘super hospital;’ for the city, a proposal which has
been steadfastly opposed by the current management.

Divers, formerly chief executive of Lanarkshire Health Board
since 1996, is to take up his post in charge of the newly created
NHS Greater Glasgow, which will replace the current Greater Glasgow
Health Board and four health trusts in November.

He inherits a row over plans for health services in the city
with the current management in favour of upgrading the site of the
Southern General Hospital, while pressure groups support a new
build option at a vacant site in Cowglen.

Divers said: “One of the challenges is to be able to move to the
benefits that can come from the provision of facilities designed
and built for the 21^st century.” He continued to say
that he had seen the benefits in Lanarkshire where “Law Hospital
and Hairmyres Hospital have both been replaced by brand new
sites”.

Danny Crawford, the chief officer of the patients watchdog the
Greater Glasgow Health Council, backed Divers and said: “Tom Divers
is quite right to say there is a need for new buildings in
Glasgow.”

Divers statement is bound to add fuel to what has already been a
controversial issue. The new hospital is only one part of a
£500 million radical shake up of services in Glasgow with
accident and emergency units being rationalised, the closure of one
maternity hospital and replacing two general hospitals with walk-in
day care centres.