Anxious parents this week warned that a child could ‘plunge to their death’ by climbing over balconies at the new £23m Houldsworth Centre.

Now they are calling for safety measures to be put in place at the new centre in Kenilworth Avenue before there is a fatality or serious accident.

And other residents have raised concerns about safety if a fire was to break out at the facility.

Last week the Wishaw Press reported how patients blasted the new health and council facilities a ‘waste of money’ and a shambles.

Now parents and patients flooded our Facebook pages with complaints and concerns about the building.

Some mums fear an accident waiting to happen as children are able to climb over a small wall there.

Erica Law said: “I think its an accident waiting to happen.

“As a parent with a child with autism and having to go to fourth-floor for his dentist, I was horrified at the silly small wall that was easily climbed.

“I think something must be done to stop someone falling to there deaths.

“Not only is there children with special needs but also people with mental health that visit that centre, so well done for creating a very dangerous place for the very people who need protecting."

Many of our readers agreed with Erica’s comment.

Pamela Park said: “This is the first thing my mum mentioned when she went this week and said the same thing, that it’s a tragedy waiting to happen.”

Joan Barclay said: "I agree with Erica Law the first thing I thought when i saw the wall was someone’s going to go over that. All children are naturally inquisitive and the best parent in the world could still take their eye off a child for a few seconds.

"Cant think of any good reason for it to be built that way its like one of those daft architectural designs that win awards but are totally impractical."

Linda Brooks said: "The open atrium was first thing I noticed, surprised this wasn’t discussed and resolved at planning stage. The inside seems poorly finished to have cost so much."

In last week’s Wishaw Press, patients highlighted a string of concerns including:

- elevators breaking down and the size of the lifts.

- screens to notify patients about appointments were not working leading to longer waiting times

- lack of available parking

- inadequate access for disabled people.

Andy Nevans hit out at the lack of parking after he was hit with a fine.

He said: “As a disabled driver I received a parking ticket for parking on the pavement as all the temporary disabled bays were full by able bodied drivers.

“There were no blue badges in the cars and there were a couple of work vans.

“The pavement was not blocked because I made sure of that but I paid my fine anyway.

“I’ve been back at the Health Centre again and the same problem has happened but not one car has a ticket.”

Joe Magunnigal also had a horrendous experience at the new centre.

He said: “I had to bump a wheelchair down four flights of stairs because the lift stop working. This should have been fixed before they opened their doors.

“There are only two disabled bays at the side with people parking across them and there’s no room for you to use a wheelchair next to them.

“They would have been better keeping the old health center open for another month whilst they tested the new one.”

“Everyone should feel safe when entering the building.”

And residents complained about fire alarms going off at the centre and lifts not working there..

Lorraine Cunningham said: “When I had my father in law in for a doctors appointment, the fire alarm went off. He is not mobile enough to walk down three flights of stairs, so him and I were left in the stairwell on the third floor. I can’t believe they have no provision for getting people with mobility problems down the stairs. All it would take is the purchase of a few evacucation chairs and train a few staff how to use them.

“ If this had been a genuine fire heaven knows what would have happened.”

Graham Johnston, NHS Lanarkshire's head of management services, said the facility fully complies with all relevant health and safety regulations and appropriate building standards.

He said: "When any new building opens, teething issues can and do arise and we endeavour to address them as they emerge.

"We are as frustrated by these glitches as patients and staff are and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience these cause.

"We would encourage anyone who has a concern about the new centre to raise this with the on-site centre administrator to allow us to address it."

A council spokesperson added: “As part of the development of the Houldsworth Centre, a two-storey car park with 190 spaces will be constructed on the site of the former health centre building, which is due to be demolished. The new car park is expected to open in March 2016.

“In the meantime, leaflets with a map of the car parking available within the town centre have been distributed in local council offices and details are available on the council’s web site at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/houldsworth.”