Fund St Margaret's Ward, St Margaret of Scotland Hospice

The family of a terminally ill woman are calling on NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board to reverse its decision to stop the funding of St Margaret of Scotland Hospice.

Marjorie McCance and her family have today (Friday 12 October) launched a petition asking the Health Board to reconsider removing over a million pounds of funding from St Margaret’s in favour of a privately operated unit nearby.

Mrs McCance, daughter of terminally ill patient Catherine McCarthy, said: “It is appalling that the Health Board are going to stop this funding, my mother is critically ill and to take away the service that is helping to enhance her condition and prolong her life it simply unacceptable. It is hard enough for a family to go through the trauma of seeing their loved ones suffer so much, what the Hospice provides is an essential service that provides holistic care for the patient and emotional support for the family. It is fundamental that this Hospice is saved.”

St Margaret’s is the biggest hospice in Scotland. It opened in Clydebank in 1950, as a non-denominational unit which, over the years has developed into the hospice it is today with 60 beds – 30 for Palliative Care and 30 for care of older adults with complex medical and nursing needs.

Hospice Chairman Professor Leo Martin said: "These are hospice beds for the elderly with complex medical and nursing needs. What the health board is proposing is to downgrade St Margaret of Scotland Hospice to a nursing home. Over 5 decades we have provided first-class care for people who are dying including acute frail elderly patients. Under the Health Board’s proposals funding would be massively cut and our hardworking fundraisers would face an impossible strain. The hospice would struggle to survive if £1.2million out of total Health Board funding was removed. We already have to raise over £30,000 every week to provide to the community of the West of Scotland the excellent service that we do."

Campaigners and family members met in Clydebank shopping centre to launch their petition in the hope that the Health Board will re-think its decision.