MSP Jackie Baillie has called for a new health centre for Dumbarton to be delivered as an “urgent priority”.

It comes after the ageing facility suffered flooding following sudden heavy rainfall last week.

Interior ceilings collapsed as rainwater poured in, leaving areas of the facility unusable.

Staff hurried to catch water in storage boxes and buckets, to cope with the flooding.

Dumbarton MSP Jackie has been urging the Scottish Government to fund a replacement for the ageing Station Road health centre.

She questioned Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth about funding for the site in the Scottish Parliament in recent weeks and secured a visit from then Cabinet Secretary for Health, Neil Gray, in January.

But the Dumbarton centre, opened in 1973, was not on the SNP Government’s priority list, despite it being a priority for NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde with a town centre site identified.  Instead Port Glasgow has been prioritised for funding.

Jackie said: “It has been clear for some time that a replacement health centre for Dumbarton is desperately needed.

“This should now be an urgent priority for the SNP Government and Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board.

“Staff and clinicians are clear that the facility is not fit for purpose – a view shared by patients.

“It cannot be right that the team at Dumbarton Health Centre are forced to resort to catching water in buckets every time it rains.

“This is not how modern healthcare should be provided and it is high time that a new health centre is delivered for patients in Dumbarton.”

The Station Road facility suffered damage following Storm Eowyn in January last year.

Jackie favours a new, accessible, town centre site for a state-of-the-art replacement for the ailing facility.

She has written to both the Scottish Government and NHS bosses, seeking a commitment to replacement.

Jackie has also repeatedly raised the matter in the Chamber at Holyrood.

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.