HYDROTHERAPY pools used by patients suffering pain or serious injuries could be closed by a major Scottish health board.
A campaign group, Hands OFF Hydro, has been launched to stop NHS Lothian from axing the facilities which they say are the only pools in the area fully equipped for disabled bathers.
Jean Houston, from Back Care - one of the charities that hires the pools, said the cut would have a "devastating" impact on elderly and disabled people.
She said: "Our members are very distressed about this proposed cut. Hydrotherapy greatly reduces their pain and improves their mobility. It has allowed many of them to reduce their pain medication and return to work. Accessing hydrotherapy has also improved their mental health and reduced their social isolation. Due to some people's conditions, the only way they can exercise is in these pools."
According to Hands OFF Hydro, which has been set up by patients, NHS Lothian is having an internal meeting to discuss four proposals to cut their Allied Health Professions (AHP) budget in early March. Closing the pools, based in the Western General Hospital, the Astley Ainslie Hospital in Edinburgh and St John's Hospital in Livingston, is said to be the first item on the list.
Sam Rankin, an outpatient at Western General Hospital and founder of the campaign, said: "NHS Lothian must not destroy access to such a beneficial service as hydrotherapy. Closing this service is completely illogical, especially since they have just refurbished the main hydrotherapy pool (at Astley Ainslie). Rather than saving money, closing the pools based in hydrotherapy pools will end up costing NHS Lothian more long term. Physiotherapists can see five patients per hour in the pool but only two per hour on land. The closure will create longer waiting times for physiotherapy during which the mobility of patients will deteriorate. Closing down hydrotherapy will cause great suffering and provide no real cost saving."
The campaigners say that pools which have been threatened with closure elsewhere in the UK have been saved following a public outcry.
Alex McMahon, director of strategic planning for NHS Lothian, said: "As part of our strategic plan and vision for the future of healthcare in Lothian, we are evaluating a wide range of services.
"A review of our hydrotherapy pools and their use is currently underway and will involve a range of stakeholders. This will inform any future decisions about the service."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article