Despite NHS Greater Glasgow promising to relocate as much of the old chapel as possible to a new site, art lovers fear that the chapel and its gems could be lost with the closure of Glasgow Western General.
Jean Turner, retired doctor elected to the Scottish Parliament to fight hospital closures, appealed for the full-sized chapel to be preserved in its current site within the hospital.
Dr Turner said: “The chapel houses many beautiful stain-glassed windows and plaques dedicated to doctors and nurses of the Western Infirmary who gave their lives in two world wars.”
Dr Turner also defended the chapel, saying that the Alexander Elder War Memorial Chapel, also plays a huge role in the lives of the people who visit and patients in the hospital.The hospital chaplain, Keith Saunders, said the chapel had been inundated with visits from patients, staff and visitors since the chapel was featured in an earlier article by the Glasgow Evening Times.
Mr Saunders said that many people had been very touched by the stories of the doctors and nurses from the Western who had fought and died during the world wars, which included one member of staff who was awarded the Victoria Cross.
He said, “nurses especially were very touched to learn of the heroism of their predecessors who lost their lives tending the wounded”,
A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow said: “It’s still too early to say what is going to happen, but we are well aware of the depth of feeling.
“We are going to do our best to relocate as much of the chapel as possible.”
