Please, don't close St Michael's Hospital

Friends of St Michael’s, backed by 2000 locals who signed a petition calling for the hospital to be reinstated and local politicians from all parties, are hoping that the IJB will “see sense” on Tuesday, when the final decision is made.

It comes after months of fervent campaigning by the Friends, a group which for many years has fundraised to provide patients and their families with extra comforts during their stay.

At the Friends behest, a public meeting was held in the town in February to discuss the future of the hospital which was ‘temporarily’ closed in August 2021, under pandemic pressures of short term staff shortages.

A decision was taken to move patients and staff to Tippethill Community Hospital in Armadale, allowing the pooling of staff. The impression at that time was that St Michael’s would re-open.

However, in June 2022 a report to the West Lothian Integration Joint Board contained two recommendations – that St Michael’s should remain closed or a public consultation be held to review future bed space requirements.

Costs will clearly be a consideration for the Board next week; however, it is hoped they will also consider local opposition to the closure and the feedback received during two consultations held in the wake of the public meeting in February – the results of which have not yet been made public.

A community hospital and the only NHS facility of its type in the north of West Lothian, St Michael’s provided end of life care, as well as tending to patients waiting for care packages or placement in a care home.

The site it calls home was gifted to St Michael’s Parish Church, initially being used as a poor house before the hospital opened. Threatened with closure in the 1990s, MP Tam Dalyell championed its retention and was successful.

This time round, Linlithgow MSP Fiona Hyslop has fought hard for the people of the town to see it retained, securing cross-party support for her motion in Parliament. Local councillors from all political parties have also battled to ensure the town keeps its much-loved facility.

If all of these pleas fall on deaf ears, however, there will be little left to do – the Friends have been told there is no right to appeal.

Chairwoman Elma Birrell said: “The IJB is promoting care at home but that is not an option for everyone.

“During the last few months, we’ve heard some very harrowing stories from families who have been traumatised by the level of stress they’ve been under, trying to care for loved ones at home.

“If they permanently close St Michael’s, what will happen to patients waiting on care home places, care packages or the terminally ill who are too sick to be cared for at home?”

It is in this last category in particular in which St Michael’s staff and volunteers excelled, exemplified by the testimonials the Friends have received from grateful family members.

One such family member told the Journal and Gazette: “It was a blessing when dad was transferred in 2015 to St Michael’s Hospital – it was one of the hardest times of our lives.

"I was surprised on arrival to see how small it was. However, at one of the most vulnerable times of our lives, that was and is its strength.

“St Michael's serves the whole of West Lothian and beyond, of course, but for us we felt lucky that dad was able to come home to us. We were able to see him every day and the staff knew dad and his needs.”

Another family simply said: “The staff were wonderful. The atmosphere at St Michael’s was special and we will never forget it.”

It is fervently hoped by many locals who’ve used its services that the hospital will not be consigned to the history books on Tuesday.

Linlithgow MSP Fiona Hyslop, who has championed the campaign to keep the hospital open, has sent an urgent letter to the chair of West Lothian Integration Joint Board.

The site is recommended for closure by the IJB, which it is due to discuss at its meeting on Tuesday.

Fiona wrote to West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership ahead of the IJB’s June meeting; this letter has gone unanswered.

She has now written urgently to the IJB chair, demanding that it listens to local people, takes West Lothian’s significant growing ageing population into account and commits to working with NHS Lothian to secure the retention of the hospital.

Fiona said: “I have written to the board to reiterate my serious concerns about the proposed closure of St Michael’s.

“The Board must be aware of the opposition to close this facility. I have urged my constituents every step of the way to make their views known to their local councillors and councillors who sit on the IJB.

"As a result, these councillors have had no choice but to intervene to ensure further discussion and detail is taken into consideration when discussing this issue.

“It is concerning that the board appears to be referring to ‘low referral’ numbers to St Michael’s Hospital as justification for its closure, when I understand from families of former patients that they were not given the option to refer to St Michael’s and instead had to request it. If this is the case, then it is hardly surprising that there are low referral rates when hospital staff were not including it as an option.”