The Tele can reveal that a review is now taking place into the future of the neurorehabilitation unit, formerly known as the PRDU ward.
Health bosses have drawn up a set of proposals for the future of the facility, which provides care for patients who have suffered serious head injuries, major trauma or neurological conditions like MS.
One of the options being considered is to move the unit to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, where a similar facility is already in operation.
Officials from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are in the early stages of consulting with staff about the future of the unit.
Inverclyde MP Martin McCluskey (Image: George Munro)
The health board says no final decision has been made, and that any formal proposals for change would be the subject of engagement with staff and the wider public.
But it admits that there are challenges in providing appropriate levels of cover at the unit.
Local MP Martin McCluskey told the Telegraph: “This is a very worrying development and I would urge Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board to reject any option to close the neuro rehabilitation unit in Inverclyde.
“This is very worrying for those who rely on this service, and it is yet another service being moved out of Inverclyde.
“I have fought time and time again against the centralisation of health services away from Inverclyde. Why should Inverclyde lose health services to Paisley or Glasgow?
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“This comes after the GP out of hours service was moved, despite the public overwhelmingly rejecting it in a consultation.
“I would say to the health board to honour a full public consultation, to take the opinions into consideration, and not to ride roughshod over the people of Inverclyde again.”
The service was revamped three years ago, with the physical rehabilitation disability unit (PDRU) renamed the neurorehabilitation unit.
Health board bosses hoped that redesign in 2022 would secure the unit’s future, with investment in staff on the site and reinstating the full service at the Larkfield Unit again.
A redesign of the IRH service was completed only three years ago – but the staffing issues that led to that redesign have now become a problem again. (Image: George Munro) The redesign followed years of uncertainty around the PRDU service, with patients forced to move between a daytime and night-time ward.
At one stage in 2019 it was closed for a time because of a shortage of doctors – and now staffing issues have placed the unit’s future in doubt once again.
Staff were informed of the review last week, with four options on the table.
Those include keeping the status quo, two revised options for ‘shared care’ at Inverclyde Royal and the QEUH, and closure of the IRH facility altogether.
READ MORE: Award-winning IRH rehab unit to close due to doctor shortage (from July 2019)
An NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde spokesperson said: “The neurorehabilitation unit review underway is aimed at assessing the service provision across its two sites at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and Inverclyde Royal Hospital (IRH).
“There are currently challenges in providing appropriate medical and nursing cover over the two sites which is consistent with the national availability of highly specialised staffing.
“Early discussions have commenced with staff, and any action to progress a proposal to change the service would involve further engagement with staff as well as with stakeholders and the public.
“It is important to make clear that there is currently no defined change to the existing service.”