CONCERNS have again been raised as to whether facilities at the county's new hospital will meet the demands of the public.

Dunbar's community council highlighted the East Lothian Community Hospital would not have a minor injuries unit earlier this year.

Now, they have expressed concerns as to the absence of procedures with general anaesthetic taking place at the hospital, which will be built on the site of Roodlands Hospital, in Haddington.

Community councillors decided to write to local MSPs, urging them to ensure the hospital, which is estimated to cost £72 million, provided a wide range of services.

However, David Small, chief officer East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, described the project as “exciting” and one that would “bring many benefits to the people of East Lothian”.

Stephen Bunyan, chairman of the community council, has already written to South of Scotland MSP Rachael Hamilton about the issue.

In May, she asked at the Scottish Parliament what services would be available at the new hospital and when people would be able to access them.

This week, she said: “The hospital does excellent work and provides and essential service to the community, however there has been concern that it does not have all the services East Lothian requires nor will see them introduced anytime soon.

“It is clear that current health services in East Lothian do not meet the needs of those in the community.

“Constituents in East Lothian are already travelling far and wide to receive the healthcare they require.

“This is both impracticable and expensive.

“More needs to be done to ensure people who live in East Lothian have access to healthcare in East Lothian.

“East Lothian is rapidly expanding and demand for services will only increase.

“Everybody wants to see facilities that East Lothian does not have introduced now for those that need them today and for those who will need them soon.”

Meanwhile, fellow MSP Iain Gray similarly was keen to see the hospital come with the best and widest range of facilities for the county.

He told the Courier: “The concerns expressed by Dunbar community councillors are entirely understandable and I share them.

“I’ve said from the outset that the new community hospital is an opportunity to expand on the current provision at Roodlands and offer local communities a wider range of health services.

“While there are many positive elements to the project, the removal of day surgical services under general anaesthetic is a huge blow.

“This is not only my opinion, but also that of surgical staff at Roodlands, many local GPs and well over one thousand people who signed my petition on retaining the services.

“This cut is simply designed to save money, it has no clinical rationale.

“Not only will it mean county patients having to travel further for operations, there is currently no capacity elsewhere in Lothian to do this work.

“Patients are going to end up waiting much longer for their operations.”

Work on the hospital could get under way before the end of the year, with the first phase operational in early 2018.

Mr Small said the hospital would provide “state-of-the-art facilities alongside new equipment”.

He added: “It will also bring with it a significant number of beds, amounting to an almost 60 per cent increase, with more services also returning to the county from other regions.

“Local people have formed a central role in the planning and design of the Hospital with over 400 residents having feedback on plans.

“We value their opinions however we must ensure that the services in the new hospital are sustainable and best fit the needs of the people of East Lothian.

“We expect to have our business case to the Scottish Government later this month and look forward with anticipation to starting work on the new community hospital later this year.”