Coldstream Cottage Hospital is to close under the plans

Health Minister Andy Kerr announced the closures as part of a redevelopment of services in the Scottish Borders.

Jack McConnell said he believed the decision balanced patient needs with those of medical staff.

Lib Dem MSP Euan Robson had questioned whether the move was in line with the Kerr report - which called for more care to be delivered locally.

Mr McConnell said: "We do need to move in this country from a situation where services are so dispersed that we could lose medical staff because they are not able to develop the specialisms to the right extent.

"Also people do not get the care they require as near to their local community as possible.

"More and more forms of emergency care in particular are available and appropriately delivered more locally.

"That is precisely what will happen in this case at the same time as ensuring that the most difficult specialist work that is required is able to be handled by specialist staff in the proposed locations."