THE Sick Kids looks set to hang on to its under-threat neurology services after an expert report recommended they should stay in the Capital.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon still has to make the final decision on the future of the services for children with brain injuries. But she is widely expected to agree they should remain in Edinburgh after receiving the long-awaited report.
The move has also raised hopes about the future of children's cancer services, which are also facing the threat of being downgraded. The two areas of expertise are closely linked, with specialists often working together.
The neurology report – compiled by a national steering group reviewing the future of specialist paediatric services across Scotland – says it is important to maintain all three existing centres of neurological expertise, in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The recommendations have raised the hopes of campaigners who have now collected 16,000 signatures on a petition calling for both services to be maintained.
Former brain tumour patient Ross Newlands, 16, who started the petition, which is being backed by the Evening News, said today:
"Hopefully, Ms Sturgeon will listen to the experts and the people that have signed my petition."
If the minister does agree to keep the highest level neurology care in Edinburgh, it will save children with brain tumours and other life-threatening conditions, and their families, having to travel to Glasgow for treatment.
It will also ease medics' fears of the Sick Kids losing its ability to attract leading surgeons.
Nigel Griffiths, MP for Edinburgh South, who has supported the campaign to keep specialist services in Edinburgh, welcomed the report. He said: "That's certainly very good news. It shows that the weight of evidence supports keeping neurology services at the Sick Kids, and I certainly believe the argument is equally strong for children's cancer."
The steering group, chaired by Malcolm Wright, chief executive of NHS Education Scotland, includes doctors, health officials and patients' representatives.
The neurology report relied on research carried out by a team of NHS experts including a paediatric neurologist, considering the needs of child patients.
Among the issues considered was how close children's services were to corresponding adult ones. The fact the Sick Kids is planning a move to Little France will have strengthened its case.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman declined to comment on the recommendations in the report, adding: "We will be publishing our responses shortly and going out to consultation."
HOW YOU CAN HELPTo find out what you can do to support the Hands off the Sick Kids campaign,
click here, or call health reporter Gareth Rose on 0131 620 8753.
The full article contains 442 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
