AN INDEPENDENT report that is expected to signal the permanent downgrade or closure of a popular children's ward will be kept secret until after the Holyrood election as a health board fears its contents will prove "politically contentious".
The review into paediatric services at St John's Hospital in Livingston, West Lothian, which have been under threat for several years, is on course to be finished by March 31.
It is almost certain to recommend that a 24 hour children's ward is closed with inpatients instead diverted to Edinburgh.
However, it will not be released to the public until June – one month after voters go to the polls in the Scottish Parliament elections on May 5.
It comes amid expectations that the SNP Government has accepted that centralising the health service is an acceptable way to save money.
A private NHS Lothian board session, where the contents were due to be discussed, has been delayed until six days after the poll over fears they would be leaked.
The health board said it was bound by pre-election rules, which kick in just eight days before the end of March, and therefore could not release the "potentially politically contentious" report until after the election.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said it was not realistic to complete the review before parliament dissolves due to "the availability of key personnel".
However, opposition MSPs accused the health board and ministers of colluding to keep the public in the dark until after the election, with senior SNP cabinet members Angela Constance and Fiona Hyslop the two MSPs whose constituencies are served by St John's and the review's findings likely to prove deeply unpopular.
Neil Findlay, the Labour MSP who represents the Lothians, said: "This delay stinks. People in West Lothian should be able to make an informed choice at the next election and our local SNP representatives should be judged on their record, and that of the Government.
"This is an outrageous situation that looks very much as if this review has been politically manipulated by ministers and the health board to hide it from the voters."
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) was commissioned to complete the review after NHS Lothian consistently struggled to plug rota gaps at St John's Hospital's paediatric department, leaving it reliant on expensive locum staff on triple pay. The situation has deteriorated over the past 12 months, with the ward being downgraded to a day-centre service in two of the last four summers due to staff shortages.
The RCPCH has been tasked with recommending "the most reliable, sustainable and affordable model" for children's care in the region. A new state-of-the-art children's hospital is currently being built in Edinburgh.
The delay comes after the SNP signalled that it is preparing to depart from a presumption against centralisation in NHS services which formed part of its 2007 manifesto.
While the party has previously resisted the closure of local services, Health Secretary Shona Robison said in August that patients would be willing to travel out of their local area for treatment if a model of centralised, high volume care, which has proved successful at the Golden Jubilee waiting times centre in Clydebank, was replicated elsewhere.
Nicola Sturgeon subsequently announced that the Scottish Government would spend £200 million on five more national centres, including one at St John's.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said: "When Nicola Sturgeon was health secretary she gave her word to a room full of local people that the Scottish Government was committed to St John's. Many didn't believe her then, and they certainly won't now.
"Instead of sitting on this until after the election, the SNP should come clean and tell the people of West Lothian exactly what it intends to do with an extremely valued and crucial local facility.?"
Scottish Government guidance states that public bodies should remain politically neutral, ensure that public resources are not used for party political purposes, and avoid anything that could distract attention from or compete with the campaign in the official pre-election period.
Ms Robison insisted that the Government had "no involvement" in the timing of the review. She added: "We have been in close contact with the health board since the issues at St John’s arose. The board has told us that due to the availability of key personnel, the review cannot realistically be completed before Parliament dissolves in March. We support whatever steps need to be taken to ensure a full and thorough review."
Dr David Farquharson, medical director at NHS Lothian, said discussions with the RCPCH had revealed that it would "not be possible for the report to be completed, considered and published" before March 23.
He added: "While we cannot pre-empt what the report will say, we recognise the potentially politically contentious nature of this issue. For this reason, we have taken the responsible decision of organising a meeting to allow board members to review and absorb the findings of the report and consider the next steps in advance of the June board meeting but after the pre-election period is complete."
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