Meeting of the Parliament 22 December 2022
Of course I agree with that. My constituents who live in Brodie are far closer to Raigmore hospital than my constituents who live in Cullen, who are closer to Aberdeen royal infirmary. However, at the moment, that is not working. As, I think, Edward Mountain and Jamie Halcro Johnston will discuss, there are capacity issues at Raigmore hospital. Clinicians are raising those problems, yet they are not being addressed by NHS Grampian.
I have taken up a bit of time and I do not want to skirt close to any issues with you, Deputy Presiding Officer, so I will focus on my last couple of remarks.
My motion is clear that I want us to focus on model 6. The clinicians are telling us to focus on model 6, and so are the campaigners. I have some requests for the cabinet secretary, if that is possible. First, we know that there is little faith in the milestones of model 4 and model 6 being delivered if there is no independent oversight, so what is he looking to do to ensure that campaigners can have comfort that we will achieve the milestones and that they will be recognised independently? NHS Grampian has continually let down Moray, and trust in the health board is at rock bottom.
Nothing that I have heard so far will improve that, to the extent that Keep MUM was not even involved in the development of model 6 and the paper that went to the board. It was asked to comment afterwards, but why was Keep MUM not involved in the paper?
Will the cabinet secretary put in a project management team to ensure that the milestones are met, and will he ensure that the project manager is from outwith NHS Grampian? On staffing and the point that Richard Lochhead raised, what conversations has the cabinet secretary had with NHS Education for Scotland to make sure that the 2018 issue of junior doctor shortages is not repeated in the future and that the additional recruitment that is required by the report is provided?
Why will it take until March next year to develop a strategy to market Moray? I said to Richard Lochhead that, for years, there have been cross-party efforts to recruit more people to Moray. What is coming up that is new, and why will it not start immediately? There is a request for additional funding from NHS Grampian. Will the cabinet secretary confirm that that request will be met, to allow NHS Grampian to go ahead with its planning as quickly as possible?
Will the cabinet secretary look at the urgent re-establishment and expansion of the University of the Highlands and Islands midwifery course? That issue came up among clinicians. The course would make a big difference to NHS Highland and also what we are trying to do at Dr Gray’s.
I have always said that the staff and team at Dr Gray’s do outstanding work. I have been blessed to have one child there, and I would like to see more and more Moray mums and Moray families be able to have their children there. Model 6 is the right approach, but we should have all the focus, attention and resources on delivering model 6 as quickly as possible, so that hundreds and hundreds of Moray families can see their children being born locally in the excellent facilities and under the excellent care of the staff at Dr Gray’s.