8 September 2008

Call for Government Consistency over Independent Scrutiny

Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands MSP is questioning Scottish Government consistency following the confirmation that there will be no independent scrutiny of NHS Orkney’s plans to reorganise its GP cover.

Mrs Grant received a written response last week from the Minister for Public Health, Shona Robison, that the government had decided there was to be no review of the reconfiguration proposals.

Mrs. Grant said,

"I have mixed feelings about this decision.

"On one hand it allows the consultation to get started and for people to express their views, but on the other the decision does not sit well with previous statements made about independently ensuring that proposals are robust.

"However, the situation where the proposals were in limbo was detrimental to the process and the community as a whole.

"The Government claims that scrutiny should be carried out on cases where there is a major service change and it is accepted the benefit of independent scrutiny is to ensure that all the alternatives are presented to the public for consultation.

"It may be this will only be applied for political expediency rather than public benefit.

"The possible changes to GP services on the Orkney Islands definitely fall into the category of ‘major’ and it may have given local people more confidence to know that this proposal was recognised by the Scottish Government as significant enough to require this level of scrutiny.

"This is a very difficult issue for NHS Orkney and I have been pushing for recognition that funding healthcare in rural and island areas is insufficient to meet the added cost of service delivery and this is what the Government should be looking at."