IN recent months the Tele has highlighted a number of important issues that, in my view, show how the current SNP Scottish Government is failing our area.

Firstly, the local accident and emergency department has been downgraded.

Patients with moderate trauma (broken bones etc.) are now taken to Paisley’s hospital.

Before now, these types of health issues would have been dealt with at Inverclyde Royal.

Patients with severe trauma (say for a serious car accident) are taken to the Glasgow hospital.

This makes sense to me, given the specialism that exist in the new Glasgow South hospital.

However, I am very annoyed that services have yet again been removed from the IRH.

Why has our local MSP, Stuart McMillan, not announced that the IRH no longer deals with mild trauma?

He always seems keen to be in the local media, but has remained tight lipped about this change.

I spoke with a local paramedic last week about all this and he said the change at the local A&E department has been in place for some time.

The truth is that in the sixteen years that the SNP has been running Scotland, many services and departments have been downgraded at the Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

Another issue that the Tele recently highlighted is the cutting of fast train services from the Inverclyde train lines. These fast services are great for locals commuting to Glasgow for work.

Inverclyde has so few employment opportunities that we should be making it easier for people to live here, but work elsewhere.

Scrapping most of the fast train services has made it far more difficult to commute to work. It has also made it far less convenient for local families to shop or socialise in Glasgow.

ScotRail is now a public company, owned by the Scottish Government. Whilst reducing our services, ScotRail increased services in Lanarkshire and parts of Ayrshire. Again, we are being let down by this current Scottish Government.

I can’t help but feel lots of SNP voters are prepared to vote for them in the hope of achieving independence, whilst ignoring the many ways in which the party is letting Inverclyde down.

Independence is a good idea, having the SNP fail our area again and again is certainly not!

Craig Wilson

Address supplied