Friday, September 05, 2008

Labour Celebrates 60 Years of NHS - while SNP dont!!

Labour Exposes £40m Hole in Hospital Budget Glasgow health bosses are facing a £40 million black hole in the budget for the new Southern General Hospital.

The budget for the new super-hospital is £842 million. Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board is contributing £270 million, and half of that is expected to be raised from selling land, although forecasts about how much money NHS Greater Glasgow could raise from land sales were "hopelessly optimistic".

Some property firms have already written down the value of their land assets by 30%. If Glasgow's health bosses did the same, the shortfall would be £40 million. Shadow Health Secretary Margaret Curran said:

"I am horrified to learn that there could be a £40 million black hole in the budget for the new Southern General Hospital. There is no way that NHS Greater Glasgow can find this kind of money from its own resources without badly damaging patient's services.

"Health bosses have already been forced to find millions of pounds of cuts by SNP ministers. The people of Glasgow need reassurance from Nicola Sturgeon that patient care will not suffer. "

Margaret Curran is calling on Nicola Sturgeon to guarantee that the Scottish government will provide enough extra money to protect services and fund the new Southern General.

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