Moray MP Douglas Ross says he is “shocked and appalled” that Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin has not been inspected since November 2017.
Analysis by the Scottish Conservatives of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) statistics showed that across Scotland over half of hospitals that are currently in use have not been inspected in the last five years.
Since HIS was created in 2011, a total of 36 hospitals have never been inspected, while a further 29 – including Dr Gray’s – have not been inspected in at least the last five years.
Douglas says it is “deeply concerning” that the hospital has not been inspected for such a long time, including in the entire period since consultant-led maternity services were ‘temporarily downgraded’ at Dr Gray’s in 2018.
Fully-led consultant services are not due to return to Dr Gray’s until 2026.
Douglas says that patients and staff will be “alarmed” at such a long time has passed since an inspection took place and says that they play a vital role in highlighting how hospitals are coping under immense pressure.
He has urged SNP health secretary Michael Matheson to give a guarantee that an inspection of Dr Gray’s will be a top priority for Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “I was shocked and appalled to learn that Dr Gray’s Hospital has not been inspected for six years now.
“That timing is significant given it includes the whole period since consultant-led maternity services were temporarily downgraded in Elgin in 2018 as well. Those services will not fully return until at least 2026, leaving expectant Moray mums having to travel elsewhere to give birth.
“Rural hospitals like Dr Gray’s have been neglected by the SNP-Green government and NHS Grampian. It is deeply concerning that we simply have no idea as to how the hospital has been coping in recent years under immense pressure.
“That is what regular inspections allow us to see and give patients and staff reassurance about the level of care being provided, so they will be alarmed at this news.
“The lack of routine inspections at Dr Gray’s must be an urgent wake-up call for Michael Matheson, the under-fire SNP health secretary. He must give people here in Moray the guarantee that an inspection at Dr Gray’s will be carried out as a priority.”
