A DUNFERMLINE mum’s petition to save vital cleft services from being moved to Glasgow has gathered more than 5,000 signatures.

Last year, Evonne McLatchie was horrified to discover that plans were in place to move the cleft surgical services at Edinburgh’s Sick Kids Hospital to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, forcing more than 1,000 East of Scotland patients to transfer.

Cleft lip and palate are birth defects that occur when a baby’s lip or mouth do not form properly during pregnancy. Children can face years of procedures to correct the problem.

Evonne’s own son, Sam, has undergone several operations and she fears that parents could face staggering transport costs and risk their children’s heath if they lose their local facility with its highly specialised team.

She decided to take matters into her own hands and start a petition, raising awareness among thousands of other patients and parents who are worried about the proposed changes and encouraging them to have their say on the consultation review, which closes next week.

“The general consensus is that people are horrified,” she said. “Parents have gone on TV, radio, done campaigning in the streets, visited dentists and doctors’ surgeries. We’ve already gathered more than 5,000 signatures and the review closes on the 11th.

“We’ve been using Facebook as our main form of communication because we don’t have access to patient lists, so social media has been the way forward for us. I’m delighted that so many people have been backing the petition and supporting us.

“As a parent, you’re looking for the best outcome for your child and we feel we’re getting that through the Sick Kids in Edinburgh. It’s the highest-achieving team in Scotland, possibly the UK, and breaking up that team will not only affect people in the east, but also have a knock-on effect in the west.

“We need the two sites. They shouldn’t be moving us to Glasgow and losing one of the best surgeons achieving these results. They’re dismantling a service which is excellent, which is a shocking waste of skills and knowledge, and patients are not being taken into account.”

Evonne has raised a number of concerns about the proposed move, pointing out the families will face increased travel and accommodation costs and children will miss days at school, hitting their education.

She’s also hit out at the lack of communication over the plans and said: “I feel like we’re being heard, but not being listened to. They seem hell-bent on going ahead regardless, whether the patients feel it’s the best process.

“Consultation is meant to be a two-way thing, but we’re just being told what’s going to happen. It’s frustrating and we hope that something will be done when they see more than 5,000 people are unhappy.”

A spokesman for NHS National Services Scotland said: “No decision has been taken and it would be for Scottish ministers to decide on the future shape of this service.

“However, services do need to be properly staffed and resourced to provide a high-quality, sustainable service for the long term. Specialist services like this with a few complex operations a year often benefit from concentrating surgical skills in one place.

“On behalf of the NHS, we are undertaking an appraisal exercise and seeking comments from families. Patient confidentiality means that at this stage, we have to work through the main patient group, CLAPA. This is ongoing.

“If the appraisal does recommend that surgery is delivered from one place, it is likely that regular outpatient appointments, assessments and other aspects of ongoing cleft care will still be provided locally.”

To sign the petition, click here

To have your say on the proposal, send your email by Wednesday, May 11 to NSS.nsd-administration@nhs.net