The Scottish Government has been accused of 'utter betrayal' after ministers rejected plans to build a long-awaited replacement for the ageing Monklands Hospital in Lanarkshire. Former health secretary Alex Neil described the decision as a 'hammer blow to one of the poorest communities in Scotland'.
The SNP had previously denied suggestions that the project would be delayed. In April, just before the Holyrood election, an SNP spokesperson said it was 'not true' to claim the project would be scaled back. The party's 2026 manifesto stated 'work is already well underway' to build a new hospital for Airdrie and Coatbridge, despite no construction start date being set.
Former Labour MSP Neil Findlay questioned whether Health Secretary Neil Gray was moved from his post to avoid having to scrap the project affecting his Airdrie constituency. Gray's predecessor, Alex Neil, called on him to resign, stating: 'The SNP government originally planned to have a new Monklands hospital built by 2016. Then it was delayed until 2032. Now it appears to have been delayed indefinitely.'
NHS Lanarkshire had approved the full business case for a new hospital in December and submitted it to ministers, but received no response. New Health Secretary Angela Constance announced the rejection on the final day before the Holyrood summer break. She said the government had an 'ambition' to redesign plans with construction potentially beginning in 2028.
Constance told MSPs: 'The case for replacing Monklands is well established. The current hospital estate is ageing, it presents ongoing operational challenges and it constrains the delivery of modern models of care. Under the reset approach, we will move at pace to complete the redesign over the next year and bring forward revised options by the middle of 2027.'
