JACKIE BAILLIE MSP has renewed her call for health chiefs to be sacked after it was announced that the out-of-hours GP service at the Vale of Leven Hospital has been temporarily cut back.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde announced this week that the lifeline service was being suspended in the evenings and at weekends because it had become "unsustainable".

The service is also being temporarily suspended at four other sites in Greenock and Glasgow.

The Vale service will still be provided between midnight and 8am from Monday-Friday, but in the evenings and at weekends, people in Helensburgh, Lomond, Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven who need to see a GP out of hours will be redirected to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley or the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

READ MORE: Helensburgh's MSP slams latest figures on Vale out-of-hours GP service closures

The health board said it faced “significant challenges” in staffing their sites which had “led to short-notice centre suspensions, resulting in an inconsistent and unsustainable service”.

It blamed “local operational issues” as well as factors including pension changes, which have led some senior medics to shun overtime work that could result in substantial tax bills.

Kerri Neylon, the health board’s primary care lead GP, said: “A number of contributory factors mean the current out-of-hours service has become unsustainable.

“Temporary consolidation of services is the only option which will enable us to continue providing this crucial service in the immediate future.”

READ MORE: GPs 'keen to talk' on future of Vale hospital's out-of-hours service

Ms Baillie – who called for the sacking of the board's chairman, Professor John Brown, and chief executive Jane Grant in a Scottish Parliament debate last week – said: “I am furious that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is shutting the local out-of-hours service at the Vale in the evenings and during the weekend.

"There was no consultation with local people and a breath-taking disregard for their interests.

“It’s shocking that this could go on for 18 to 24 months whilst the health board redesign the out of hours service.

“I have raised out-of-hours services at the Vale of Leven Hospital numerous times with the health secretary, including last week when I demanded that she sack the chair and chief executive for their failure to get to grips with delivering the most basic of emergency service.

READ MORE: 'Vale hospital has a bright future', health secretary insists

"The consequence of the out of hours service being shut is that more people will end up at the front door of A&E, contributing to even longer waiting times to be seen.

“It’s clear that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is incapable of delivering local out of hours services. They are failing local people and particularly those who come from disadvantaged areas that struggle to access services.

"It’s time for the Scottish Government to intervene to maintain local out-of-hours services and sack the chair and chief executive of the board. Nothing less will do.”

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