The driving force behind the Monklands Replacement/Refurbishment Project (MRRP) is the need to change the way we deliver healthcare.

MRRP clinical lead Dr Jim Ruddy (pictured above) said: “People in Lanarkshire are living longer, meaning they’re more likely to need healthcare – and that’s putting growing pressure on hospital beds.

“So our staff have been designing a plan for providing healthcare differently in the future.

“We need to reduce reliance on inpatient beds by increasing day case and outpatient treatment and by making the most of community-based care.

“The current site isn’t big enough to create the ideal hospital, which needs a very large ground floor where A&E, outpatients, an assessment unit, radiology, labs and other services are close together.

“Patients could move round them quickly and easily, unlike the current set-up where people can be taken quite a distance along corridors or in a lift in a wheelchair or on a trolley – not ideal for privacy and dignity.

“They could be assessed quicker because all the right staff would work close together, meaning, for example, a patient could arrive at the emergency department, move next door to the assessment area and then go for an x-ray a short distance away in radiology.”

Full consultation details at www.monklands.scot.nhs.uk