Following on from a question asked by Cllr Tim Eagle at the recent corporate committee on Moray Council senior staff from Health and Social care Moray have responded to a query on the re-opening of local healthcare settings.
Commenting Cllr Tim Eagle said;
“This response shows there is little to no desire from NHS Grampian or Health and Social care Moray to re-open community settings. For all the talk of providing right care this is a shocking cover up for closing facilities on the back of COVID-19.
If a young child splits their head open and needs just a small bit of care to glue it back up, their parents will now need to spend a significant amount of time phoning NHS 24 only to then be told to go to Elgin whereas before a quick trip to Buckie Minor Injuries could have dealt with it in minutes.
We talk of climate change and 20minute neighbourhoods but now say that Elgin is the only place locals can get minor care out of hours.
Healthcare professionals themselves recognise the value of these facilities, helping to alleviate pressure on central services and provide for their local communities.
We simply cannot sit back and allow senior managers to close facilities in this way without any regard to consultation or discussion with the communities impacted.
I have had several people contact me with concerns over this, I will continue to raise questions with management but I truly believe this needs to become a big issue or communities like mine in Buckie will suffer"
