Just what the doctor ordered: Sick Kids wins neurology fight

EDINBURGH'S Sick Kids hospital will keep its neurology services, the Scottish Government confirmed today.

Health Minister Shona Robison said plans to create one central children's neurosurgery unit serving the whole of Scotland had been rejected.

The confirmation is a major boost for the Evening News "Hands off the Sick Kids" campaign and has raised hopes that a similar decision will be made on the future of children's cancer services.

The Evening News revealed earlier this month that an expert report had concluded all four existing centres of neurological expertise, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, should be retained. Today, Ms Robison said the Government was accepting that recommendation.

She said there was "no evidence" to support a move to a single site, but that there would in future be greater co-operation between the four centres and they would be managed together as a "national service".

Clinicians would be required to work more closely across the sites to ensure that everyone in Scotland, no matter where they live, benefits from the same standard of neurological care.

Ms Robison said: "I appreciate there has been a great deal of uncertainty around neurosurgical services for a number of years, and I hope that my announcement today allays the concerns of staff, patients and families and marks the start of a period of stability. There was no evidence in the report to support the case for moving to a single site for neurosurgical services.

"The innovative model proposed by the group which I am endorsing today will see all four units continue to provide services locally, while promoting a uniformity of care that does not exist at present."

"It is now up to the staff at each of the four sites to work together to make sure the new model delivers maximum benefits to service users and their families."

NHS Lothian welcomed today's announcement as a boost for the Sick Kids, which is due to move to a new site at Little France by 2012. Health board chairman Dr Charles Winstanley said: "This is great news for healthcare in Lothian and for the very many patients across the south-east of Scotland we provide these services for.

"Continuing to have paediatric neurosciences in Edinburgh is all part of our plans to have a new hospital that is truly world class.

"I want to thank the Evening News for highlighting how important the Sick Children's hospital is to its many patients."

A report on children's cancer services was handed to ministers this month and the Government hopes to make an announcement within the next few weeks.