Poynton, Sarwar and Stokoe call for urgent action on overcrowded East Calder Medical Centre
Scottish Labour MP for the Livingston, constituency Gregor Poynton, has joined Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar in East Calder to highlight the urgent need for a new medical centre to serve the growing community.
The visit, which also included West Lothian Council Leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick and Scottish Labour’s Almond Valley candidate Jordan Stokoe, saw the delegation tour the current facility with Practice Manager Thanos Keramidas. They heard first-hand how staff and patients are being impacted by overcrowding and inadequate infrastructure.
Built to serve just 4,500 patients, East Calder Medical Centre is now responsible for 16,000 people - a figure projected to rise to 19,600 by 2028. Campaigners warn that without investment, the situation will only worsen.
They were joined on the visit by Pauline Cowan from the East Calder Medical Centre Campaign Group, who outlined the community’s ongoing pressure on the Scottish Government and NHS Lothian to deliver the long-promised new facility.
Commenting after the visit Gregor Poynton MP said: “This UK Labour Government is delivering the largest budgetary settlement in the history of devolution with an extra £9.1 billion for Scottish public services. Yet the SNP Scottish Government continues to squander opportunity after opportunity and waste public money.
"Nearly five years ago, the SNP’s Angela Constance called for ‘further and faster’ progress towards a new medical centre for East Calder. Five years later, nothing has happened. That’s five years of failure for local people. We cannot give the SNP Scottish Government another five years to fail again.”
Jordan Stokoe, Scottish Labour candidate for Almond Valley, said: "I have yet to hear from anyone that disputes East Calder desperately needs larger and better GP facilities. I’ve worked on many projects in my career and I see that the centre team have squeezed every single thing they can out of the current building. There is no more to give. The result is more wasteful spending to keep the centre from bursting at the seams all while the pressure continues to build as more and more people move into the area.
"The neglect being shown to the people of East Calder, Mid Calder, Calderwood, Kirknewton and Wilkieston is unacceptable. As it stands, it’s only the SNP Scottish Government that can make the decision to push ahead. Everyone else is ready to do what it takes, so it’s time to make them listen."