Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 12:00pm

Mum's the word

I WAS sad to hear that, after 46 years, the Queen Mother's Hospital closed its doors in January.

My children were born there and I could not fault the hospital.

The staffing and nursing care was excellent.

But was it really necessary to close this institution?

We were told that this was due to "a city-wide revamp of maternity services".

These maternity services are being moved to the Southern General Hospital, where an expensive redevelopment has taken place to accommodate these.

This is all well and good, but what about the people that have to travel further to get there?

We also have to remember the poor nursing staff that have been moved to different hospitals and those who have been made redundant due to this move.

I also hope some action is put into place regarding the parking at the Southern General Hospital.

One of my colleagues travelled to this hospital for antenatal classes and ended up having to park illegally as there were no spaces in the car park or street parking.

Why are these hospitals allowed to be run into a state of disrepair?

Funding is almost certainly the answer, but does it not make sense for these hospitals, which have been there for decades, if not centuries, to have money invested into them from time-to-time rather than being allowed to rot?

A similar story happened to Rottenrow Hospital, which closed in 2001 and moved to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

I fear it is just a way for the hospital 'fat cats' to make money by demolishing these buildings and selling the land for housing developments.

Alison Spencer, Duntocher

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