NHS BANS OFFICIALS FROM TALKS

A panel from NHS Lanarkshire intended to meet with patients at a meeting of the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth's Community Forums on Monday night.

This was amidst concerns that radiotherapy facilities would be removed from local surgeries. The issue of out-of-hours care, also threatened by cuts, was also up for discussion.

The board itself had suggested attending the meeting.

However these much touted items on the agenda were not discussed - after the health authority told organisers TWO HOURS before the meeting that civil servants in Edinburgh had GAGGED NHS staff due to address the meeting.

Officials were concerned that the event could influence local voters in the run-up to the General Election, in a move that affects some public meetings. This is despite the fact that the NHS in Scotland is NOT controlled by Westminster.

That decision has caused a furore by disgusted community groups like the Kilsyth and Villages Community Forum whose members had been out in force to hear these key issue addressed.

Chairperson Catherine Martin said: "We got a phone call on Monday to say they had pulled out because of the election but no other explanation was given.

"We had the discussion of why the election should be used as an excuse when it's a devolved issue.

"I was really annoyed that they left it to the last minute to pull out. It just made us look daft," she said.

Another chief critic of this move is MSP Cathie Craigie. "I am surprised by this decision," she said.

"Even if their reasons were valid, we have known there is a General Election coming up for months, so the Health Board should not have been making arrangements they would not keep."

Billy Lees who chairs the Cumbernauld Community Forum said: "This would have been one of the biggest meetings we would ever have had because you are talking about cuts that are going to make a huge difference to peoples' lives.

"I don't blame the health board itself because it was only acting on orders from higher up. There is something about this that smells bad. It's political," said Mr Lees.

A spokesperson for NHS Lanarkshire said: "We apologise that we were unable to attend the meeting of the Community Forums. This was a result of national guidance regarding the conduct of business of NHS Boards during the general election campaign."