Meeting of the Parliament 19 November 2025
Christine Grahame has made my point for me: we should not have inequality, simply because of a geographical difference between urban and rural communities. In fact, the Government should be supporting rural communities because of that difference.
I recently met Jenni Minto, the Minister for Public Health and Women’s Health, for an update on the much-lauded women’s health plan. The Scottish Government said that it would bring endometriosis waiting times down to less than 12 months by the end of this parliamentary session, but has it done so? No. People are still waiting eight and a half years. That means, if someone’s symptoms started today, they would not get a diagnosis until 2034.
I shared with the minister the traumatic story of my constituent, Samantha Hogg, who said that she had been waiting for a diagnosis since she was 12. She is now 25, and she was scared about the damage that the wait was causing. She was told that she would have to wait two years for a laparoscopy procedure at the BGH, and she was in so much pain that she went private.
It does not stop there. Concerns have been raised in the Borders about diagnoses for ADHD and autism and whether the health board still provides that service. In a recent case covered by the Border Telegraph, an anonymous patient reported that their doctor had said:
“You clearly are [ADHD], you meet the criteria but the Borders have withdrawn their adult services and no longer will diagnose or provide services for ADHD or ASD, so you would need to go private.”
There is a pattern here, and I could go on, but I do not have much time. I just believe that rural health boards must be supported and that the rurality that my constituents live in must be recognised, and I ask the SNP Government to consider the fact that its resource allocation formula is inadequate and insufficient.
The Scottish Government is not on track to recruit 800 GPs by 2027, and the overreliance on locums and outsourced workforce is costing millions. It is evident that rural communities are being left behind. They are being used as a dumping ground for renewables, with the SNP overturning 99.9 per cent of appeals, leaving communities completely ignored.
Rural crime is up, with essential machinery and equipment being stolen because the Scottish Government failed to replicate Westminster legislation. Bus funding has been cut, leaving villages such as Swinton and Leitholm unable to access key services. Banks have withdrawn from high streets. Post offices have closed, with the likes of St Abbs left without even a postbox. Broadband is patchy, creating a digital divide.