RHODA GRANT: New First Minister needs to respect the unique nature of our rural communities
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Holyrood Notebook by Rhoda Grant
They do say there is a never a dull day in politics – that very much rings true this month!
I am watching the SNP leadership contest closely and I look forward to positively engaging with our next First Minister. Our SNP-Green government currently has a reputation of “ignoring” rural areas such as Caithness. I agree with this view as council budgets continue to be slashed, healthcare continues to be centralised and roads continue to fall into disrepair.
The SNP leadership contest must not serve as a distraction from the many pressing issues facing the country such as rural inequality – an issue close to my heart.
Hopefully, our new First Minister will see that rural inequality exists and make positive changes that will benefit rural communities.
An independent review into maternity provision in Caithness is desperately needed and I hope it is top of the agenda for the next First Minister or Cabinet Secretary for Health.
Only eight babies were born in Caithness General Hospital last year and elective caesareans continue to rise. That is simply wrong and needlessly carrying out complex surgery is dangerous. Women want to give birth as close to home as possible and they should be able to – like their counterparts in the central belt.
Furthermore, we had a bad period of weather this month which resulted in the Dornoch bridge being closed. This happens often, especially in the winter months, and it cannot be helped. However, what is unfair is that because of centralisation of health and other services, this closure results in Caithness residents being completely cut off from services they have every right to access.
Of course there are ways around this – air ambulance for example – but this is limited to those in critical need of help.
Unsurprisingly, Caithness residents have taken finding a solution to this problem into their own hands and I congratulate them for doing so.
Only last week, two petitions – submitted by Caithness residents – relating to rural healthcare were considered by the health and sport committee in the Scottish parliament. I watched this closely as I submitted a written statement in support of these petitions.
In this written statement, I suggested that the committee commit to undertaking an inquiry into rural healthcare generally. This would then uncover rural issues relating to the delivery of healthcare, including associated issues such as housing, travel and childcare which directly impacts recruitment, retention and healthcare delivery.
I’m delighted the health and sport committee took this onboard and gave a clear commitment to do a rural healthcare parliamentary inquiry. This will now be added to their work programme and I look forward to seeing this progress.
Issues relating to rural living should be an opportunity. Rural Scotland is unique and thus it requires unique thinking, unique ideas and unique solutions. But instead our SNP-Green government are either applying urban solutions that simply won’t work – centralising police services for example – or are ignoring the issue altogether, like Caithness maternity.
This needs to change and I will continue to fight for that change.
- Rhoda Grant is a Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands.
