Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP, Murdo Fraser, has written to Jeane Freeman the Cabinet Secretary for Health to demand an apology from the Scottish Government over ambiguous and misleading statements on A & E at PRI over the past nine months.
In that time Murdo has asked the former Health secretary, Shona Robison, on two separate occasions about the future of A & E services, only to be told on both occasions that it was safe. The most recent commitment came in May, just two months before the announcement on downgrading was made.
In November, Shona Robison, the then Health Secretary gave a clear commitment to “providing unscheduled care”, going as far to call rumours over its future “scaremongering”. Yet just nine months later the Scottish Government have pulled the plug on emergency surgery at the Perth hospital. In a press release in July the Scottish Government said:
“All unscheduled admissions in Tayside will be directed to Ninewells Hospital to ensure that all patients have access to a dedicated Acute Surgical Receiving Unit and a staffed 24/7 theatre for unscheduled surgery.”
Liz Smith MSP, Murdo Fraser MSP and Luke Graham MP are hosting a public meeting at Aytoun Hall in Auchterarder on the 7th of August at 7pm, and are encouraging interested residents to get in touch to book their place at the event.
Commenting Murdo Fraser MSP said;
“For over nine months I have asked the Scottish Government about the future of A & E services at PRI only to be told it was safe.
“During this time, Shona Robison has led the people of Perth and Kinross up the garden path with her statements on A & E care in the Fair City.
“As recently as May she was trotting out the same old lines on emergency care being secure, only for her successor to come in and all but scrap this lifeline service.
“Decisions on this scale are not made overnight and the Scottish Government must have known about these plans when drafting up these misleading statements.
“We need the Scottish Government to come clean about PRI and that is why I have written to the Health Secretary. Ultimately, at the very least, patients deserve an apology from the Scottish Government over their complete lack of transparency.
“Over the next couple of months I want people across Perth and Kinross to make their voices heard and show the Scottish Government that they want a fully functioning A & E at PRI and I would encourage people to come to the public meeting the Conservatives are hosting in Auchterarder on PRI.”