The Board of NHS Lanarkshire has approved a shortlist of three potential sites for a new, state-of-the-art University Hospital Monklands.

All of the sites meet the five site selection criteria, which were shared with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane Freeman. (see background information below for list of criteria)

The shortlisted sites are (in alphabetical order):

• Gartcosh
• Glenmavis
• Wester Moffat

The sites at Gartcosh and Glenmavis were previously found to meet the selection criteria prior to an option appraisal process in 2018.

The land at Wester Moffat is a new addition to the options for an alternative location for the hospital, and was identified through a public site nominations process run by NHS Lanarkshire.

The community will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the three shortlisted sites before a site re-evaluation process is undertaken through a formal scoring event involving a representative group of members of the public and NHS staff.

The NHS Lanarkshire Board also approved a recommendation that the scoring event should involve 100 participants, 51 of whom will be members of the public.

Neena Mahal, chair of NHS Lanarkshire, said: “The NHS Board’s approval follows the recommendations of the Monklands Replacement Oversight Board, a governance committee of the NHS Board, which includes public representatives and independent members as well as non-executive directors of the NHS Board.

“NHS Lanarkshire will undertake further public engagement on these potential alternative sites for the hospital as we address the urgent need to provide a new University Hospital Monklands for the communities of Lanarkshire.”

Monklands Replacement Project (MRP) director Graeme Reid said: “We’re pleased that the public site nominations process proved very worthwhile, receiving 183 responses, and has identified the land at Wester Moffat as a new option.

“Eight specific sites, additional to those we had considered previously, were suggested and, following assessment against the five site selection criteria, Wester Moffat was the only viable option among them.

“We also received a number of suggestions that were not about any specific site, mentioning general areas and particular communities or referring to the Gartcosh and Glenmavis sites that are already known to be viable.

“We’d also like to thank North Lanarkshire Council for carrying out a recent search for possible alternative sites for the hospital. While this process identified a further eight potential options, none of these was found to match all five site selection criteria following our detailed analysis.”

The site scoring event, planned for March, will be a formal, objective assessment based on an agreed set of benefits criteria. To ensure impartiality, it will be facilitated by an independent engagement organisation.

To provide the opportunity for fully informed public feedback in advance of the scoring event, NHS Lanarkshire will publish detailed information on each of the shortlisted sites by the end of January. This will cover issues such as site history, site conditions, transport and travel information, site remediation costs, road infrastructure costs and construction costs.

The public will then have the opportunity to:

1. Suggest additions or changes to the proposed benefits criteria for the scoring event, which cover accessibility by road or public transport, drive times and public transport infrastructure;

2. Be a participant in the scoring event. NHS Lanarkshire intends to publish details of how participants will be selected at the end of January;

3. Use NHS Lanarkshire’s open channel of communication, which will include options to seek clarification on any aspect of the process or any of the detailed information provided about the shortlisted sites;

4. Take part in “People’s Hearings” – structured events where a panel will hear representations from members of the public or organised groups, who wish to put forward any concerns they have about the accuracy or legitimacy of any information issued by NHS Lanarkshire regarding the shortlisted sites. NHS Lanarkshire intends to publish, at the end of January, details of how to participate in the People’s Hearings, which are planned for late February.

Following the outcome of the scoring event there will be an opportunity for further public feedback, which will be collated and issued along with a recommendation for a preferred site location to the NHS Lanarkshire Board in the spring.

NHS Lanarkshire intends to create a “health and wellbeing village” on the current site of University Hospital Monklands after the hospital moves. The vision for existing site involves an exciting proposal, meaning the local community will benefit from enhanced community-based healthcare in addition to the development of a new University Hospital Monklands. NHS Lanarkshire has agreed to start planning for this development in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council, the University of Strathclyde and other community planning partners.

See the MRP webpage – www.monklands.scot.nhs.uk – for:

• Maps showing the location of the shortlisted sites;
• A table showing: the public site nominations and the sites identified in the recent North Lanarkshire Council site search, including the reasons each site was included or excluded from the shortlist; the previously-published long list of sites, developed prior to the Monklands Replacement/Refurbishment Project option appraisal in June 2018, including the reasons each site was included or excluded as viable.
• An analysis of catchment and patient flow information, outlining predicted changes to A&E attendances/bed numbers caused by sites that would adversely impact existing hospital catchment areas;
• A table showing the number of public and NHS scoring event participants by area/category.
University Hospital Monklands catchment area public participants: ML6 (Airdrie and vicinity) – 12; ML5 (Coatbridge and vicinity) – 11; G65 (Kilsyth), G67/68 (Cumbernauld), G69 (Bargeddie/Chryston/Gartcosh and vicinity) – 11 in total; ML4 (Bellshill) – 3; G71 (Bothwell/Uddingston/Viewpark, vicinity) – 3.
The remaining 11 public participants will be from the University Hospital Wishaw catchment area (7 participants) and the University Hospital Hairmyres catchment area (4 participants).

Background information

Monklands Replacement Project site selection criteria
• Must sit within University Hospital Monklands unscheduled care catchment area;
• Must be a minimum of 40 developable acres;
• Site must have no detrimental impact on adjoining unscheduled catchment areas of hospitals in Lanarkshire, Glasgow or Forth Valley;
• Site must be designated to permit appropriate development;
• Site must have sufficient road and transport infrastructure to support the development of a major hospital site.

A number of the public site nominations were for the existing University Hospital Monklands site. Following the Independent Review of the process followed by the Monklands Replacement/Refurbishment Project, published in June 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Jeane Freeman, concluded that the existing hospital site should not be an option for the new University Hospital Monklands because “building a new hospital on an existing hospital site takes longer, costs more, risks infection and other patient safety issues, while creating performance and access issues during the long construction phase.”

The development of a revised site shortlist and upcoming programme of further engagement follows the findings of the Independent Review of the process followed by the Monklands Replacement/Refurbishment Project, published in June 2019,, which recommended a re-evaluation of the Gartcosh and Glenmavis options, which should “explicitly and transparently take account of the views of the public, obtained following an inclusive process and in line with appropriate recognised approaches.”

To ensure NHS Lanarkshire meets the review’s requirement for transparency and inclusive community involvement, the process has been designed with the independent advice of the Consultation Institute, who are international experts in public engagement.

See www.monklands.scot.nhs.uk for more information on the MRP, including full details of the Independent Review of the process followed by the Monklands Replacement/Refurbishment Project.