The front entrance to the Victoria Infirmary in Langside Road. The photograph appeared in the May 1993 issue of Glasgow City Council's newspaper The Bulletin, in connection with an announcement by Depute Leader Pat Lally that the Council had offered part of Queen's Park recreation ground to Greater Glasgow Health Board at a peppercorn rent for 99 years, to extend the hospital. At the time, the Board was considering proposals for a reduction in the number of hospital beds in Glasgow, with closure of the Victoria one of the options.
Ten years later, the debate continues. The offer of land was not taken up. Calls for a new hospital on the South Side continue to be resisted by the Board, whose preference is to expand services at the Southern General Hospital. Services at the Victoria have been downgraded and it appears destined to cater mainly for outpatients. Campaigners on behalf of the Victoria now include Pat Lally, who stood (unsuccessfully) as an independent candidate in Cathcart in the Scottish Parliament elections of 2003, on a "Save the Vicky" platform.
Reference: Bulletin Photographs, Box 11, May 1993
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Bulletin, Greater Glasgow Health Board, infirmaries, National Health Service, NHS, outpatients, Queen's Park recreation ground, Save the Vicky, Scottish Parliament, Southern General Hospital, Victoria Infirmary, voluntary hospitals