2. Last week I raised with the First Minister the save our Bield campaign. Elderly people are facing eviction from their homes. The First Minister said that her health secretary would meet with the campaigners as a matter of urgency, but today’s

The

Courier newspaper reports that campaigners are still waiting. Can the First Minister update the chamber on what progress has been made?

Yes, I can. Shona Robison’s private office has, over the past week, made a number of offers of meeting times that the group was—no doubt for understandable reasons—unable to accept. Last night, the health secretary spoke directly to one of the campaigners, seeking to organise a meeting. She wanted to ensure that she had their views before she met Bield, which she did earlier this morning. During that meeting the health secretary arranged to meet representatives of the campaign, and that meeting will take place on 6 February.

I hope that we can see an early and satisfactory resolution to the matter, because when a Government makes a promise to the people, it is important that the promise is kept. [

Interruption

.]

Order. Let us hear the question.

It is important, not least when it comes to the wellbeing of people’s families.

On 1 May 2016, the First Minister told Gordon Clark on national television that there were no proposals to close the children’s ward at the Royal Alexandra hospital in Paisley. Now, less than two years later, her Government is closing the children’s ward. Mr Clark is here today, in the gallery. Will the First Minister take this opportunity to apologise to Mr Clark for misleading him?

The First Minister:

It is interesting that Richard Leonard says today that back in May 2016 I gave a commitment about the Royal Alexandra hospital and the children’s ward there, because this is what Labour said about that after that debate: Labour said that during the debate I had been asked to give a guarantee to protect those services and I had refused to give the guarantee. [

Interruption

.] That was Neil Bibby, for the avoidance of doubt.

On the substance of the issue—because this issue is far more important than political exchanges—the health secretary updated the Parliament earlier this week on the decision on ward 15 at the Royal Alexandra hospital. She said—and I think that she was right to say it—that it had been possibly the most difficult decision that she had had to make as health secretary. That is entirely understandable; every decision that affects the interests and particularly the health of children should be a difficult one for ministers to make. She arrived at the decision having taken into account a range of views, including the very important views of parents, and she arrived at it based on clinical evidence.

It is worth noting what the lead paediatric clinicians and chief nurse for paediatrics at the Royal Alexandra and the Royal hospital for children said earlier this week. They think that the change will help to implement the standard that the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health set to ensure that high-quality healthcare is delivered to children, and that the implementation of those standards will contribute to better outcomes for children and young people. That is the clinical advice that drove the decision.

Of course, the health secretary attached conditions to the decision: first, that the health board must maintain and develop community-based paediatric services and maximise local provision; and secondly, that it must work directly with families in the Paisley area on specific, individual treatment plans, which must be in place before any service change is made. As the matter moves forward, the interests and health of children will be paramount at every stage.

Well, I hope that the First Minister listens to expert opinion when it comes to, for example, mesh implants, too.

The First Minister needs to understand the depth of anger about the decision. This is not just about party politics—it is about her integrity. People feel betrayed, with good reason. Campaigners were accused of lying. Scottish National Party politicians were more interested in saving the local McDonald’s than they were in saving the local children’s ward. When a decision was finally made, it was sneaked out on a Friday afternoon. The Government tried to bury bad news in the middle of a snowstorm.

Will the First Minister say why the people who depend on the Vale of Leven hospital or the parents who depend on the children’s ward at St John’s hospital should trust her now, and why the people of Paisley should ever trust her again?

The First Minister:

First, on the manner of the announcement, the health secretary stood up in this chamber earlier this week, set out the reasons for her decision and answered a range of questions from members from across the Parliament. That is right and proper.

On the issue of substance, as we have always done—as we did when we were first in Government and saved the accident and emergency services at Monklands and Ayr hospitals from the closures that Labour planned—we take decisions on the basis of best clinical evidence. These are never easy decisions, for any health secretary.

Let me quote Philip Davies, a consultant paediatrician, who was interviewed after the health secretary announced the decision. He said:

“If children are seriously unwell, then having the back-up facilities of things like the paediatric intensive care unit, theatres and specialist medical and surgical specialties at the royal hospital for children—things that are not available in ward 15—means that we can start definitive care for sick children at a much earlier stage”.

That is the clinical evidence that underpinned and drove the decision.

The charity Action for Sick Children Scotland said:

“The most compelling argument is that clinical standards are there to support the best quality healthcare ... and we feel that this would be best achieved by moving Ward 15 to the Royal Hospital for children.”

That is the evidence that drove the health secretary’s decision.

The concern about local access is an important one, and the concerns of parents absolutely require to continue to be addressed, which is why the conditions that the health secretary attached to the decision are so important. The first was on the development of community-based services and the second was the board’s requirement to work with individual families on individual treatment plans. Those conditions are important, and the health secretary will ensure that they are both met before any service change proposal goes ahead.