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 BBC Scotland's Kate Fawcett reports"The transfer of maternity services is an emotive subject in Stirling"  real 28k |
Stirling Royal Infirmary's maternity and gynaecology services and the children's department, which cared for victims of the Dunblane shootings, have been earmarked for transfer to Falkirk Royal Infirmary.
Meanwhile, the Falkirk hospital's acute surgical services will be switched to Stirling under the plans by Forth Valley Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
If we did nothing, there would be a real danger of losing maternity and other services  |
Trust chairman Ian Mullen
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The changes form part of a £31.5m shake-up of hospital services in Forth Valley.
New walk-in, walk-out hospitals or "ambulatory care centres" are to be created on the both sites at a cost of £24m, to deal with day care, day surgery, and diagnostics.
The trust said the units would be able to deal with the five out of six hospital patients who do not require an overnight stay.
Plan sparks anger
More than £7.5m has been earmarked for centralising services, including transfer of the special baby care unit which was relocated from Falkirk to Stirling four years ago.
Clackmannanshire is to get a new community hospital, handling day care, clinics and geriatric services.
But the loss of the maternity paediatric services in Stirling has been greeted with anger by patients and politicians.
 The children's unit will go to Falkirk
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"What they are proposing will mean that someone in labour, or a child needing urgent hospital treatment, may have to be moved up to 50 miles from the outskirts of the Stirling catchment area in an emergency."
Councillor Helen Scott, leader of the Conservative group on Stirling Council, said there would be great sadness at the loss of maternity services.
Status quo 'no option'
Chairman of the acute hospitals trust, Ian Mullen, said that leaving both hospitals as they were was not an option.
"If we did nothing, there would be a real danger of losing maternity and paediatric and other services to Edinburgh or Glasgow.
"It would also mean that the trust would have difficulty in meeting targets for junior doctors' hours, and in attracting high-calibre clinical staff," he said.
 Acute surgical services will change
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Staff at both hospitals have been assured there will be no redundancies.
Jill Robertson, the Royal College of Nursing's officer for Forth Valley, said that in terms of care for women and children, the decision to centralise services in Falkirk was sensible.
Internet poll
People opposed to the plans have been urged to take part in an internet poll.
Bridge of Allan businessman Tony I'Anson, managing director of Stirling Internet Limited, has set aside web space for the referendum.
He said: "We hope people from all over Scotland will log in, too, and vote on www.Stirling.co.uk.
"If this is happening to hospitals in Stirling or Falkirk, it can happen anywhere and we want to give people a voice."
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