Public meeting tonight on Lanark's Lockhart Hospital

This will be the third such gathering organised by Lanark Community Council since last May’s decsion by NHS Lanarkshire to largely ‘mothball’ the much-loved local cottage hospital due to lack of GP coverage.

This latest meeting will be in Greyfriars Church and is scheduled to run between 7 and 9pm.

During the meeting campaigners for a full and speedy re-opening of the Whitelees Road institution intend to present copies of a petition signed by 2500 supporters to both the Clyesdale MSP Aileen Campbell and the chief executive of NHS Lanarkshire, Calum Campbell.

One of the leaders of the campaign, Lanark Independent councillor Ed Archer, expressed his opinion on the ‘interim’ use of the hospital by the Healthy Valleys group announced by NHS Lanarkshire.

He said: “I have some reservations about their role in the Lockhart. They do excellent work for the community but I do fail to see the relevance of ‘Baby Yoga’ and ‘Social Proscribing’ in terms of what the Lockhart should be providing; both palliative care and acting as a unit where chiefly older members of the community can be cared for before being sent home with the appropriate care package or a decision made about admission to a care home.”

He and the meeting’s host, Community Council chair Frank Gunning, appealed for a large turnout.