Meeting of the Parliament 16 January 2025
Saved for how long? That is the problem.
What will the loss of care provision mean for the Belford hospital, which is itself in need of replacement? I joined the local community, campaigners and other politicians in Fort William last year to highlight the increasingly desperate need for the much-promised but much-delayed replacement finally to be delivered. A clear message was sent to the SNP that Lochaber would not accept more delay. There has been positive news about the Belford recently, but, like many in the community, I will not accept that real progress has been made until we see spades in the ground as work on the build begins. That community has been let down too many times before by SNP ministers in Edinburgh who are big on promises but not so big on delivery.
Colleagues have spoken about the long journeys faced by young mothers in Caithness and Moray and those are also faced by many living on Skye. A former paramedic described to me a high-speed drive, with blue lights on, from Skye to Inverness. It was winter, it was dark and the roads were unsuitable for anything other than careful and often slow driving. That situation is not acceptable and I am sure that even those on the SNP front benches will recognise that.
That story also highlights the pressure that the Ambulance Service is under. I held my own members’ business debate just a few years ago on the pressures faced by the Ambulance Service and its crews and I know that the service continues to be called on to help or provide cover in areas outwith what should be its remit. That is only exacerbated on Skye when promises to return 24/7 urgent care to Portree hospital fail to be delivered time and time again.
I must conclude, but I could have spoken, as others have done, about the pressures on mental health provision, the loss of local dentistry, a lack of the physio support that is important for many older residents, nursing shortages and the lack of accommodation. I hope that this debate will leave the health secretary under no illusions about the severity of the pressures on our rural health services and the desperate need and public demand for a reverse to the running down, centralisation and loss of services that we have had during the SNP’s 18 years in power.
17:31