Health has been a key theme for Gail Ross in her four years as MSP
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HEALTH has been a key theme during the parliamentary career of Gail Ross, who announced yesterday she is to step down as an MSP next year.
Four years after being elected as SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, she confirmed she will not be standing as a candidate at the Holyrood elections in 2021. Mrs Ross (42), from Wick, cited travelling commitments and disruption to family life.
"The decision has been reached due to the demands of travelling to Edinburgh and being away from home for sometimes five days a week," she said. "I want to be able to spend more time with my family, to watch my son grow up and to be more involved in local issues – things I cannot presently do."
Mrs Ross was elected to the Scottish Parliament in May 2016. She stood in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross following the retirement of Rob Gibson and held the seat for the SNP with a majority of 3913.
In her maiden speech to the Scottish Parliament on June 2 that year, she identified health as an issue close to her heart.
She told the chamber: "Our NHS is a remarkable institution and its staff provide care each and every day, from our first day to our last. I was proud to be elected on a manifesto that committed to implementing the new £100 million cancer strategy to better prevent, detect, treat and care for those who are affected by cancer."
She went on to tell of the death of her father from a brain tumour and the work being done by Carolyn Toshney to raise funds for brain tumour research after her husband was diagnosed with the condition.
Mrs Ross said: "Earlier this year, Carolyn and others took the message to Westminster, and now I am helping her take the message to Holyrood. Through the new cancer strategy, I look forward to working with the Government and others across the chamber to explore what more we can do.
"For me, a fairer Scotland is one where everyone has a fighting chance if they fall ill, where diseases are adequately researched in our world-class facilities and where everyone can continue to have access to the world-class treatment that our hospitals and their excellent staff can provide."
After her election to the Scottish Parliament Mrs Ross continued in her role as a Highland councillor for Wick but stood down in November 2016 over the maternity service changes at Caithness General Hospital after her fellow councillors unanimously agreed to call for an independent review of the service – a decision with which she did not agree.
She said at the time: “I have read in detail the report of the maternity services review and considered its findings carefully. I have conducted my own research into the matter and asked the opinions of my constituents.
"I have worked extremely hard to both understand the current situation and help the team to find a future for the maternity unit which would be safe, sustainable and effective. The decision by the Caithness Area Committee to agree, unanimously, to a motion put forward by one of my fellow councillors, which in effect questions the validity of the report’s findings and those that undertook it, is one I cannot agree with."
In January 2018, Mrs Ross spoke publicly about her struggle with depression as she backed calls for mental health A&E units to be opened across the country, giving people somewhere to turn when they reach crisis point.
She said: “In my twenties I was off and on antidepressants for a few years but I never seemed to find medication that worked for me. I have had hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and been to meditation and mindfulness classes as well.
"But I’ve always found talking therapies helpful – working through why you feel the way you do, understanding that it’s not your fault and that you don’t have to feel this way forever.”
She also backed the Daily Record's NHS Heroes campaign, being run at the time, saying: “There are a lot of untruths being bandied about regarding the NHS in Scotland at the moment. Our NHS staff are tremendously hard-working and it does them a real disservice to constantly read in the media and online how ‘bad’ the service is.”
The needs of rural areas was the focus of a consultation on a proposed bill – Safeguarding Scotland's Remote Rural Communities – launched by Mrs Ross in November 2019. She called for feedback, with the aim of giving remote mainland communities the kind of protection Scotland's islands already have.
"I want to know from people in remote rural areas what they would like to see different and are there things they would like to see change. It could be as wide-ranging as from bank closures to bus routes. What we really want is an overview of how remote rural Scotland feels."
In January, Mrs Ross urged Westminster to regulate private delivery sector and banish unfair delivery surcharges and wrote to the minister responsible for postal services in Westminster, Kelly Tolhurst.
She said: "I would urge people to report any delivery charges they come up against that seem disproportionate or that only appear after the transaction has taken place. We should not have to put up with this any more and it’s time to end this discrimination faced every day by my constituents.”
Mrs Ross was first elected to Highland Council in 2011 in a Wick by-election and held the seat the following year. In 2012 she became the Caithness civic leader, a post she held until becoming an MSP in 2016.
During her time in parliament she has promoted greater understanding of ME and supported transgender rights.
She has held various Holyrood roles, including deputy convener of the rural economy and connectivity committee, and served on the public audit committee and the equalities and human rights committee. She is deputy convener of the petitions committee, convener of the Cross-Party Group on the Prevention and Healing of Adverse Childhood Experiences, co-convener of the Cross-Party Group on Food and a member of the education and skills committee.
Scotland's recently appointed finance secretary Kate Forbes, the SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, tweeted her support for Mrs Ross. Ms Forbes wrote: "We were elected on the same (bitterly cold) May morning. Her constituency is vast, the weekly travel is exhausting and the toll on family life is undeniable."
