Members' Business — S6M-08317 Fiona Hyslop: The Future of St Michael’s Hospital in Linlithgow, West Lothian

That the Parliament understands that the land for the St Michael's Hospital facility in Linlithgow was originally gifted by St Michael's Church in the 19th century for the purpose of providing a hospital and garden for the community, and that, due to temporary demands to move staff elsewhere in the NHS due to illness absences, it is currently closed; recognises what it sees as the long history of St Michael's in providing hospital services to the people of West Lothian, the Friends of St Michael's Group’s hard work and dedication in supporting families with loved ones cared for at St Michael’s Hospital, and the invaluable local support and spirit of solidarity that the local community provides to all who use the hospital; notes the view that there will be an ongoing need for a health facility providing end-of-life and step-down intermediary care and, potentially, new support services to match increasing home-based care in the north of West Lothian; recognises what it sees as the strong community support for the retention of the hospital and the campaign to maintain hospital and health services there, including, it understands, the large number of people who attended the information evening on 7 February 2023 organised by the Friends of St Michael's Group and addressed by West Lothian Health and Care Partnership, which, it considers, saw a willingness from all to identify the best future needs for patients and families and the role that the hospital could play; understands that West Lothian has a growing population that is already well in excess of that of the City of Dundee, and also has one of the highest proportions of older populations; acknowledges what it considers the continuing challenges in securing and resourcing staffing for any expansion of care at home, and the ongoing pressure on caring families; notes the West Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership’s consultation on the current closure of St Michael’s Hospital and its community bed review, and further notes the calls on the partnership to take a strategic view in favour of using the physical, social and community assets of St Michael's for the benefit of the growing population in the north of the county.