Dumbarton Health Centre is recognised as a priority within the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde primary care estate, Scotland’s new Deputy First Minister, Jenny Gilruth, pictured right, assured the Holyrood parliament this week.
She said: “£10 billion pounds of investment in health infrastructure is planned over the next decade. Work is underway already to develop a standardised approach to the planning, design and delivery of projects within the infrastructure delivery pipeline, which was announced back in January 2026. The first tranche of projects is currently being progressed.
“Decisions on the allocation and the timing of funding for projects, including Dumbarton, will be taken as part of future phases of the infrastructure and investment programme.
“I do, however, expect to receive further advice from officials on the next stages in the coming weeks, and I would be happy to provide a further update on that to Ms Baillie at that time. “
That sounds like the SNP government has in mind a prefabricated project placed on the site of the old Rialto cinema behind the partly demolished town centre in the old College Street, locally known as The Vennel.
Jackie Baillie, who narrowly edged re-her re-election by defeating Reform candidate David Smith and the SNP’s Sophie Traynor, clashed with Ms Jenny Gilruth, previously SNP Cabinet Secretary for Education, as she pushed with Labour councillors for a new facility to house the area’s GP services.
Democrat editor Bill Heaney has suggested the College Street site for a new health centre in his Dumbarton Notebook column on numerous occasions, but it has appeared to meet problems on both counts at West Dunbartonshire Council and the Health and Social Care Committee, which is 50 per cent responsible for HSCP matters.
In parliament, MSP Jackie demanded a timeframe for delivery of a new facility, pushing Ms Gilruth for a plan on when “there will actually be shovels in the ground”.
The politician, also Scottish Labour’s spokesperson for Health and Social Care, said a response to an earlier Parliamentary Question suggested that it could be five years before work is undertaken.
Former Scottish Government Health Secretary, Neil Gray, visited Dumbarton Health Centre at Jackie’s invitation in January, to see for himself the condition of the ageing building.
Built in 1973, the ageing facility sustained further damage when Storm Eowyn struck in January last year.
The Alexandria Health Centre in the grounds of Vale of Leven Hospital and Clydebank’s Health Centre at Queen’s Quay on Clydeside.
It is the last of its kind, after similar facilities in Alexandria and Clydebank were replaced with new state-of-the-art centres.
The MSP has been pressuring the Scottish Government to fund a replacement for some time and has been backed by GPs and healthcare staff based at the site.
The Station Road site is plagued by leaks and windows which cannot be opened and is no longer fit for purpose.
The MSP said: “Dumbarton Health Centre is a relic from a bygone era, which opened just a quarter of a century after the NHS was created. It has been in place for more than 50 years and has also suffered storm damage.
“I have been clear with the Scottish Government that Dumbarton Health Centre should be a priority and a timeframe for delivery is urgently required.
“The SNP Scottish Government has pledged to invest £10 billion in health infrastructure over the next ten years, but cannot provide any detail on whether Dumbarton will be included.
“The previous Cabinet Secretary for Health agreed that Dumbarton’s replacement should be on equal priority footing with Port Glasgow.
“It is high time this centre was replaced to provide a new facility fit for modern healthcare, to benefit both staff and patients.”
She wants to see as soon as possible a new fit-for-purpose facility created in a prime town centre location.
Alexandria’s ageing Bank Street Medical Centre was replaced by the state-of-the-art Vale Centre for Health and Care in 2013.
The modern facility in the grounds of the Vale of Leven Hospital now provides a base for combined medical, dental and support services.
Clydebank’s 1970s Medical Centre was replaced in 2022 with a £21.7 million new-build structure on the waterfront Queen’s Quay site.