Hansard

I congratulate Euan Robson on securing the debate. As a Jethart lassie and a regular visitor to Jedburgh, where most of my family still live, I am well aware of the strength of feeling in the town and will focus my remarks on that aspect.

As Jedburgh is not known as a hotbed of radical political activity—after all, its people vote Liberal Democrat—getting 700 people on to the streets is a remarkable achievement and shows the strength of feeling about the cottage hospital. The town has a huge emotional attachment to the hospital. In my case, all my cousins were born there; my granny and family friends spent time there; and I had my fingers put back in there when I dislocated them in a basketball incident.

However, for most people, the emotional attachment is not to the building itself but to the care that they receive. Most, if not all, accept that the current building, which is at the top of a steep hill, is not fit for purpose. It is not served by public transport and folk face a long walk up to it, especially in winter. When the health centre was built, the plan was to put a second storey on top of it, move the hospital down the road and provide people with care in the town centre. However, we are a long way on from that and the plan now appears to revolve round the closure of the cottage hospital.

I should point out that, when the first plan was put in place, there was a nursing home in the town. However, that facility no longer exists and, if these proposals go ahead, the only provision in the town will be an already oversubscribed residential home at Millfield.

Jedburgh has a considerable—and growing—elderly population. It is the kind of place that people retire to at the end of their working life—indeed, I might well be one of them. However, where will those people go if they become ill? First, they will go to the BGH, which is just outside Galashiels and then, if the proposals go ahead, they will receive continuing care either in Hawick or in Kelso. However, Borders people like their own towns. As the Deputy Presiding Officer knows, a day in Hawick is a day wasted; Jethart folk are very proud of coming from Jedburgh. The Hawick cottage hospital is also a considerable distance outside the town centre; it is far from the public transport links on which many people in the Borders rely and elderly people, in particular, face a significant walk to get there.

My grandmother, who had never been out of Jedburgh in her life, eventually had to move to the Inch hospital in Kelso to receive long-term care. Because no one in her family or among her friends had cars, they could not visit as often as they would have if the hospital had been in Jedburgh and the woman became relatively isolated. That situation is not right.

I realise that, in weighing up all the issues, the minister faces a huge challenge. After all, we all go to him and plead for our constituencies. If the Kerr report and consultation are to mean anything, then local health delivery is vital. There is a good proposal for Jedburgh on the table that would combine the hospital, the health centre and, potentially, nursing home care with a range of other services. The Executive should support that kind of integrated approach. Although I appreciate that the minister's hands might be tied over what he can say, I hope that when the proposals come before him, he will bear in mind the strength of feeling across all the parties in the chamber—even those that are not directly represented in the Borders—about the need for local health care delivery in local situations. That is the right way for us to go.