As an MSP for the Highlands and Islands, I am all too aware of the challenges that our remote communities face, from broadband and mobile coverage to road infrastructure and reliable ferry connections. I will continue to work to secure the improvements needed and I would like to highlight one challenge in particular where much still needs to be done: rural healthcare.
My role as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport brings with it the very serious task of scrutinising and working with the Scottish Government and health boards to deliver the effective reform our health services urgently need. Sadly, inadequate performance occurs far too frequently and securing accessible healthcare in rural areas must be an absolute priority.
For example, it is simply not acceptable that obtaining a pregnancy scan for someone who lives in Ardnamurchan involves a 7-hour round trip to Raigmore, or that there is currently only one ambulance on the whole of Mull. With many recent headlines highlighting cuts to services, it is obvious that provision in the remoter areas of the Highlands and Islands is being challenged. It is easy enough to identify the major problems – limited access to frontline services, specialist treatment being too distant – but the hard task is delivering lasting solutions that work.
A key issue is recruiting and retaining staff. It is vital that our hospitals, GP practices and other health services are able to attract and keep the staff needed to provide a top-rate service, but at the moment this is not happening. As I heard from staff on a recent visit to Cowal Community Hospital, we need to attract more skilled staff to rural communities, as well as providing greater opportunities for locals to work close to home.
Of course, we know that the NHS across Scotland is experiencing a crisis in staffing levels. Only last month we highlighted that nearly a fifth of nurses and midwives in Scotland’s NHS will retire over the next decade, a stark reminder of the staffing pressures we face. Furthermore, there is a serious shortage of GPs in Scotland, an issue I raised shortly after becoming Shadow Health Secretary. The situation is getting worse and figures released in June reveal numbers have dropped further still: 2.4 % in the last year. We now need to hire 830 new GPs to return to 2009 levels of coverage. What this failure makes clear is that the SNP government, which has been responsible for our health services since 2007, either failed to see this staffing problem coming or simply failed to do anything about it.
Training of doctors, nurses, mental health and social workers is clearly a necessity and there are promising schemes that can support our rural communities. One example is rural fellowships that see doctors split their time between general practice and training in a chosen specialty. Another interesting idea is the “Open Dialogue” approach to mental health treatment where a network of family, friends, peers and professionals meet with patients to discuss treatments.
Improving services encompasses more than increased spending or imposing further targets. Core to reform is “integrated” health care, which accommodates the changing demographics of rural populations and capitalises on the positives of rural life. We must deliver health services in communities and homes, and where possible give people control of their care. We must also target investment in new technology; increase levels of physical activity for school children; and encourage people to take responsibility for healthy lifestyle choices.
It is my central mission to advance the policies that will prepare our health service not just for the next few years, but for the next 25 years. Parents want to know that their children will have access to a reliable health service as they progress through life, whilst those of us entering retirement in the next 25 years need to be confident that the health service will support us.
I do not pretend to have all of the answers but what I can say is that, as your MSP and Shadow Health Secretary, I will campaign for the healthcare Scotland needs and that my constituents deserve, with an open mind, an open door, and a keen eye on the long term.
Donald Cameron
First printed in the Press and Journal on Friday 12th August