Former Kirkcudbright Community Hospital Action Group calls for robust campaign to save facility

18.01.2023 - 11:59 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A former Kirkcudbright Community Hospital Action Group chairman is calling for a more robust campaign to save the facility.

Ian McConchie is frustrated at what he sees as a lack of concerted effort by community councils to demand talks on its future.

The veteran campaigner co-ordinated a previous grassroots crusade to keep the hospital open and in 2011 it succeeded after a two-year battle.

Now Mr McConchie, of Hinton near Gatehouse, reckons similar perseverance is needed again if a similar outcome is to be achieved.

He said: “I’m disgusted at the lack of action. There should be a single action group rather than them writing letters separately.

“Thirteen years ago we got together representatives together from Kirkcudbright Hospital League of Friends and six community councils – Kirkcudbright, Borgue, Gatehouse, Auchencairn, Twynholm and Tongland and Ringford – there was a lot of a work went into it.

“We need these community councils to get off their backsides this time – they have done nothing.”

Mr McConchie added: “It’s up to the community councils – they have to stir things up and pull together to get the community behind them.

“They need to be calling a public meeting and invite the chairman and chief executive of NHS Dumfries and Galloway – and make sure they turn up.

“The Cochran Hall in Kirkcudbright would be ideal as a venue – it has a capacity of 400.

“At Newton Stewart the hospital campaigners there are working their backsides off at the moment. They got more than 200 at their public meeting – and I take my hat off to them.”

Mr McConchie’s call comes as the Newton Stewart Hospital Group continues to demand reopening the unit.

Health chiefs have not agreed to its requests for discussions and blanked