Hansard

I thank all members from across the chamber who supported the motion. I will be clear: rural Scotland, including areas such as Stranraer and the Rhins in Dumfries and Galloway, has been let down, not by geography but by Government choices. Those choices have stripped away vital health and care services without ensuring that replacements were ready, and they have left families facing a worsening healthcare crisis.

For years, I have warned that the greatest threat to rural healthcare is not distance but a chronic failure to recruit and retain the workforce that is needed to deliver care. That failure lies squarely at the door of the Scottish National Party Government.

What is happening in Wigtownshire? General practitioner shortages are critical—just recently, the Mull of Galloway practice handed in its notice. Patients in Stranraer wait weeks for an appointment, if they can get one at all. When people cannot access primary care, conditions worsen and hospitals come under greater pressure.

Ambulance response times in the Rhins are longer than the national average, not just because of geography but because crews are stretched to breaking point. It is hard to recruit paramedics locally, and those who join the service face impossible workloads. At Galloway community hospital, diagnostic and treatment capacity is limited, and the birthing suite has gone, so some mothers now have to travel to Dumfries to give birth, fearing that their babies might arrive in the car. That is not progress; it is neglect.

Jason Jordan, who is the assistant general manager at Galloway community hospital, recently said:

“We have an outstanding team of staff working at the Galloway and every effort is being made to deliver a first class service.”

He is right—the staff are outstanding. However, there is still too much reliance on Dumfries and Galloway Royal infirmary, which is almost two hours away.

The consequences of poor planning are clear. Cottage hospitals have closed, but promised community hubs and step-down facilities have yet to materialise. The result is delayed discharge and bed blocking. I spoke to a constituent from Newton Stewart who should have been discharged but had nowhere to go, because the local cottage hospital had closed and there was no funding for home adaptations. He spent months stuck in an acute ward, blocking a bed that he knew someone else needed, and he felt guilty about it. That is what happens when services are dismantled before alternatives exist.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway faces a £58 million funding black hole. Integration joint boards are staring at cuts that make it impossible to invest in community care or recruit staff. Those cuts are not just numbers; they mean fewer services, longer waits and more worry for rural families. The Government promised 800 new GPs by 2027, but there is no sign of those GPs. Rural practices are struggling—vacancies remain unfilled and community pharmacies are under pressure to try to pick up the slack.

That is not workforce strategy; it is workforce crisis. However, the Government’s response is to produce more reports, more consultations and more talking shops. As Dr Gordon Baird from the Galloway community hospital action group said,

“You can’t fatten a pig by weighing it.”

Scotland does not need more reviews; it needs action.

I make it clear that none of those failures are the fault of our local NHS staff or ambulance crews, who are doing an incredible job under impossible circumstances, working long shifts and driving hundreds of miles to deliver care. They deserve praise, respect and support, not the constant pressure that is caused by poor planning and underfunding. They are heroes, but heroes cannot hold up a broken system for ever.

What needs to happen? The motion calls for a clear funded plan to tackle rural health inequities. That means recruitment and retention incentives, including housing support, relocation packages and career development for rural posts. If we want doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics to come to rural Scotland, we need to make it attractive and sustainable.

We need to restore local capacity and ensure that no service is removed until a replacement is operational and staffed. There should be no more dismantling of maternity units, leaving women with few safe alternatives, and no more closing of cottage hospital beds without alternative step-down facilities being put in place. That means investing in community beds and step-down facilities, which would prevent delayed discharge. That is as much about patient dignity as it is about freeing up acute beds.

I acknowledge that there have been improvements to service provision at Galloway community hospital, which have been driven by the wonderful staff. However, we need to see evidence of expanded diagnostic and treatment capacity, with the workforce to deliver it. That would restore confidence among local people that they can access care close to home. We need to rural proof planning and staffing by recruiting and training paramedics locally and ensuring that resources match geography in order to improve ambulance response times.

As a Gallovidian through and through, and as a rural Conservative, I, along with my colleagues, have made a commitment. Tomorrow, voters in Stranraer and the Rhins will choose a new representative. Julie Currie, our Conservative candidate, brings NHS experience that will deliver on our Conservative commitment—