A BID to block moves to close the Inverclyde Royal birthing unit was defeated at a crunch health board meeting yesterday.

Inverclyde health and social care convenor Councillor Joe McIlwee, who is a member of the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board, joined with the leader of Renfrewshire Council Mark McMillan to force a vote on the issue and a plan to shut the children’s ward at RAH in Paisley – which is used by many local families. 

They asked members to remove the proposal from the meeting altogether to allow for more discussions.

But health board bosses won the green light to forge ahead with their plans – and will come back with a timetable for a public consultation this summer.

Councillor Joe McIlwee said: “I seconded a motion by the Renfrewshire Council leader to have the item removed.

“But we were outvoted.

“I was clear about how hard we had fought for the services in the past.”

He added: “When the children’s ward was moved to Paisley from Inverclyde Royal there were concerns that in the end they would all be moved to Glasgow – that is exactly what is happening. It is very difficult for people in Inverclyde on low incomes and no car to travel all that way.”

At the crucial health board meeting, the first since the Scottish Parliament elections, the health board chief executive Robert Calderwood tried to reassure people about the future of IRH.

Councillor McIlwee added: “At the meeting I raised the level of cynicism in Inverclyde about the future of the hospital 

“I highlighted the concerns expressed in the Greenock Telegraph.

“But he was clear that there is no capacity in anywhere else to move the services.

“I am reassured by this and I don’t think there are any plans to downgrade the hospital.

“But I am pragmatic enough to realise that things can change.”

Health board bosses want to close the birthing unit at Inverclyde Royal, which would mean babies now being born in either Paisley or Glasgow.

An internal document showed that in a 12 month period only 12 babies were born in the unit.

The community midwife unit was established following the removal of consultants in 2003.