Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant is eager to see the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf, come to Moray and to Highland to meet with clinicians at Dr Grays Hospital and Raigmore Hospital to hear their views on Moray Maternity Services.
The MSP wrote to the Cabinet Secretary asking when he will deliver on his promise to come to Moray and Highland to meet with clinicians, to hear their views on the recent review into Moray Maternity Services. This comes after 18 senior clinicians from Raigmore Hospital released an open letter criticising the review. In this letter they say that they were never consulted on whether Raigmore Hospital could deal with extra births from Moray.
In his response to the MSP, The Cabinet Secretary for Health says: “I intend to travel to Moray to meet with NHS Grampian and NHS Highland as well as local clinical teams from Dr Grays and Raigmore and local people as soon as is practicably possible” and that “his office are currently identifying a date as a matter of priority.”
Rhoda Grant MSP says: “I think it is imperative that the Cabinet Secretary delivers on his promise to come to Moray and Highland to meet with clinicians and locals because right now there is little local trust in this review, as shown by the clinicians concerns.
“I think everyone who lives locally understands the fear and concern caused to pregnant woman on having to travel these great distances to give birth and also the pressures on Raigmore Hospital should this go ahead. I hope the Cabinet Secretary will visit sooner rather than later to hear to those concerns.”
The Cabinet Secretary for Health was supposed to travel to Dr Grays Hospital in Elgin before Christmas to meet with stakeholders however, this was changed to a virtual meeting as covid restrictions were tightened because of the Omicron variant.
