Health relocation plans reversed

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Plans to move the headquarters of three special health boards from Edinburgh to Glasgow have been reversed by the Scottish government.

The decision was announced by Health Secretary Shona Robison ahead of the NHS Health Scotland annual review.

It is hoped the reversal will free more than £20m to help improve frontline health services across Scotland.

It also ends a period of uncertainty for about 400 staff, who have now been told their jobs will not be moved.

Ms Robison confirmed the headquarters of NHS Health Scotland, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland would remain in Edinburgh.

Staff at these organisations have faced more than two years of uncertainty about the future location of their jobs Shona RobisonHealth Secretary

She also announced that staff at a fourth special health board, NHS National Services, would stay in Glasgow, as would employees of the other three boards who already work in the city.

Ms Robison said: "To pursue the decision to move the HQs of three NHS Boards would cost around £22m.

"We believe that this is not the best use of resources during what will be a tight financial settlement period. £22m will be better invested in frontline services and in tackling health inequalities - a particularly big challenge in the city of Glasgow.

"It is also the case that staff at these organisations have faced more than two years of uncertainty about the future location of their jobs."

The announcement was welcomed by trade union Unison Scotland, which represents employees in the special health boards.

Branch secretary Aileen Stewart said: "Unison has fought against this unnecessary and expensive policy for a number of years and even up until last week continued to lobby the current cabinet secretary.

"We are pleased that our campaign has been successful.

"In these specific cases, relocation of already widely dispersed NHS services made little sense."

'Lost out'

The original proposal to move the Edinburgh headquarters to Glasgow was made in 2005 under the previous administration's controversial policy of relocating public sector jobs.

But Labour MSP Andy Kerr, the former health minister who made the decision to move the jobs, said he believed Glasgow had lost out through the SNP's reversal of the policy.

He said: "The three health boards all have a direct part to play in tackling the problems of Scotland's most in-need areas and we felt they would be more relevant and effective if they were based in Glasgow.

"Today's announcement deprives the city of much-needed jobs and important HQ functions and undermines the efforts to relocate public service jobs throughout the country."

He also said he was doubtful the move would save £22m, as the SNP claimed.