Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnstonhas warned that the ongoing crisis facing NHS Scotland may hamper efforts to restore maternity and paediatric services at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
Mr Halcro Johnston issued his warning after Audit Scotland revealed the scale of the crisis facing health services across Scotland, with both financial and staffing pressures across local health boards.
The Scottish Conservative MSP, who visited Dr Gray’s earlier this year with Shadow Health Secretary Miles Briggs, said: “I was immensely impressed by the NHS staff we met at Dr Gray’s who are dedicated to restoring the services formerly provided at the hospital.
“Unfortunately, they are working against a deteriorating backdrop caused by 12 years of mismanagement by SNP ministers in Edinburgh who have, time and again, failed to plan properly for the demands being placed on local health services.
“The current Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman, has repeatedly promised that there was a plan for reversing the downgrading of Dr Gray’s, coming, but deadlines have been set and missed.
“We are still waiting for this to be resolved and my fear is that, once again, Moray will find itself at the end of the queue when it comes to the Scottish Government addressing the downgrading of local health services.”
