PATIENTS will face a minimum 40-minute journey to get to an emergency unit in Glasgow under a preferred plan by health bosses.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde wants to keep a minor injuries unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital rather than transferring it back to the west of the city.

Another option - to house the emergency service at Gartnavel - was supported by 90% of Evening Times readers and scored highly for patient accessibility.

The board admitted that the favoured option, “performed less well” than Gartnavel or Yorkhill, where the unit was sited until December last year. to add

By public transport the average travel time to the QEUH from the West, which takes in areas including Clydebank, was 40.3 with a 33.4 journey to Glasgow Royal Infirmary’s unit.

The other option for patients is to go to Stobhill’s minor injuries unit in the north west of the city, however, it is not easy accessible with public transport.

Kelvindale Community Council said the preferred option amongst residents was Gartnavel General.

Many residents feel the west has been left without adequate emergency cover, following the closure of the Western Infirmary.

John McCann,who lives in Maryhill, said: “When you look at the population in the north west that is left without a credible service for minor injuries, it’s a dereliction of duty on the part of the health board.

“The more hassle they make it to get to some kind of casualty, the more people won’t be able to face the trek and will simply hope it gets better.

“While it gets worse. That applies equally whether it’s treatment for themselves of their children.

“No reason why Gartnavel can’t have at least an MIU (and 24 hrs at that).

“Is this why they moved the MIU from the Western to Yorkhill in the first place? So that people wouldn’t know where it was or how to get there and the figures would drop?

“The worry is that a lot of “sore arms” that are actually broken and “wee bumps on the head” that are, in fact, serious will be missed simply because people think it’s not worth the trek.

“And they’re not lucky enough to live in one of the few areas of the city still covered by a real health service.

“They spent millions on a new, much-needed Health Centre for Maryhill but it offers none of the services that the MIU did.

“And none after the early evening.”

A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said the QEUH scored highly in terms of quality of care and facilities but stressed that no final decision had been made.