CAROLINE WILSON
CHILDREN in Scotland born with a cleft palate are facing longer journeys for treatment under new plans.
Surgery for the condition is currently offered at the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow and the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh.
However, the NHS is considering a number of alternative plans including centralising treatment in Glasgow due to “significant challenges” in sustaining the service across two sites.
A spokesman for NHS National Services Scotland said no decision has yet been taken and it would be seeking comments from families.
He said outpatient appointments and assessment would continue to be provided locally if all surgery moves to Glasgow and that the main patient group, the Cleft Lip and Palate Association, was involved in the discussions.
Cleft lip and/or cleft palate occurs in about one in every 650 live births in Scotland, with problems early in pregnancy meaning that the sides of the child’s lip or the roof of their mouth do not fuse together as they should.
A spokesman for NHS National Services Scotland said: "It is essential to have a service that can be properly staffed and resourced that can provide a high quality, sustainable service for the long term for NHS Scotland.
"Specialist Services like this with a few complex operations a year often benefit from concentrating surgical skills in one place.
"This was a paper outlining future options for considerations of an Options Appraisal exercise and seeking comments from families and no decision has yet been taken.
"The main patient group, the Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA) have been involved in the discussions and are part of the appraisal process to ensure that patient views are fully considered.
"If the option appraisal does recommend that surgery is delivered from one place, there will be further engagement with stakeholders before a final decision is made.
"If that change was made regular out-patient appointments, assessments and other aspects of ongoing cleft care will still be provided locally."
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