§ Mr. Allen Adamsasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) what is his policy towards the removal by the health authority of patients in the Greater Glasgow health board area, within which specialist facilities are available;
(2) what assessment he makes of the impact of the building of new hospitals in the precincts of the Greater Glasgow health board area on the number of referals in Glasgow; and if he will make the appropriate financial adjustments to lighten the workload.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe new district general hospital at Paisley has been built to provide general acute services to all the residents of the Paisley and Renfrew districts including those who previously had to look to hospitals in Glasgow because of a lack of facilities in Paisley. Patients requiring treatment of a more specialist nature will, however, continue to be referred to the appropriate specialist hospitals in Glasgow. To the extent that the new hospital results in a reduction in the number of referrals into Glasgow, the financial allocations to each health board will automatically be adjusted to allow for the changes in the number of patients being treated in each board.