Health Minister, Andy Kerr had endorsed the plan for the closure of two facilities which form part of NHS Borders' £12m review of health services in the region. NHS Borders has since been planning the timetable for the closure over talks with staff.
Shutting down the Jedburgh Cottage Hospital and the cottage hospital in Coldstream have been planned for the end of October. The 60 staff involved are expected to be deployed elsewhere.However groups such as the Jedburgh Alliance have opposed the closure of Jedburgh Cottage Hospital and proposed a judicial review of the processes that resulted in Health Minister Andy Kerr endorsing the plan.
George Burt from the Jedburgh Alliance alleged that there were serious flaws in both the consultation process as well as in the statistics given by NHS Borders. According to Mr Burt figures that claimed that 15% of community hospital beds were in the Borders having only 2% of the population were incorrect and that such information had affected the health minister's decision.
He said, ‘I think there were factors which influenced his decision. There was no dissension in the decision made by NHS Borders by the board members. We think they were misled in many respects on statistical information.’
