Martin Whitfield MSP was joined by Jackie Baillie MSP at yesterday’s campaign rally in North Berwick in support of the reinstatement of services at the Edington Cottage Hospital.

They were among the crowd of several hundred at the rally organised by the Hands Around The Edington campaign to mark eight weeks since staff and services at the Edington were relocated to the East Lothian Community Hospital in Haddington.

Speaking after the rally, Martin Whitfield MSP said:

“I know the importance of the Edington to people in North Berwick and the huge success of the campaign rally demonstrated this very clearly. I share the community’s strong desire to see it fully open again as soon as possible.

“The reasons given by NHS Lothian for the temporary closure are Scotland-wide and require a national response from the Scottish Government to ensure that health boards have the funding and staff they need to maintain vital services in East Lothian and across Scotland.”

Jackie Baillie MSP said:

“It was fantastic to see such a large turnout of local people supporting the Edington. It is a clearly much valued and needed local service.

“NHS Lothian and the Cabinet Secretary for Health need to explain why services were removed, when there wasn’t a staff shortage at the Edington, and what criteria will be in place for the review.

“The Edington has been serving the local community well for 100 years and to remove its services, even in the short term, without consultation is simply unacceptable.”