The Scottish Conservatives have set out plans to reduce waiting times in the NHS and improve rural healthcare access.
Speaking at a campaign event on Friday, Scottish Conservative candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, John Lamont, will say the SNP’s central belt bias has left rural health services in jeopardy.
He will outline a rural health plan which would:
- Ban local health service closures
- Review recent closures to reopen facilities recently closed where possible
- Recruit 1,000 GPs and guarantee an appointment within one week
- Review NHS funding to take account of the needs of rural communities
- Tackle social isolation with a Rural Mental Health Strategy
A campaign in recent months by John Lamont to save community hospitals across the Borders gained over 4,000 signatures.
Following John Lamont’s campaign, the future of the community hospitals has been secured until 2025. However, an NHS Borders review into the future of the hospitals is still ongoing.
Scottish Conservative candidate for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk John Lamont said: “Rural healthcare in Scotland is in crisis, with patients suffering from lengthy waiting times and difficulties accessing essential services.
“As usual, the SNP are fixated on Scotland’s biggest cities and the central belt at the expense of everywhere else in the country.
“They don’t focus on the top priorities of people in the Borders or other rural areas across Scotland.
“Community hospitals and vital healthcare services are under threat because of a lack of SNP investment.
“On July 4th, every vote for the Scottish Conservatives is a vote to beat the SNP and get all of the attention onto the issues that really matter, such as improving rural healthcare services and reducing NHS waiting times.”