Liz Smith Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife has called for an assurance that the out-of-hours GP service atPerth Royal Infirmary will be reinstated as soon as possible.
Liz Smith MSP said:
“The withdrawal of out of hours GP services from Perth Royal Infirmary is yet another blow to health services being delivered by NHS Tayside to communities in Perthshire and Kinross-shire.
“Local people across Perthshire and Kinross-shire are clear that they want to see Perth Royal Infirmary as their primary hospital – that is a position which has arguably been undermining over many years and withdrawal of out-of-hours service only adds to this concern. In recent years we have seen the maternity ward disappear from PRI as well as paediatrics, pathology, and weekend surgery. It is not surprising that there is such public anger about the latest plans to withdrawal of out-of-hours services.
“It is an unacceptable situation that patients in Perthshire and Kinross-shire seeking out of hours help will now be forced to travel to Dundee.
“I am also concerned that we have consistently seen a situation where NHS Tayside seem to always adopts a centralised approach to these problems and that services at Ninewells Hospital are always protected over services at PRI. The question has been asked by a number of local residents why locum GPs are not deployed from Ninewells to PRI in order to retain theout-of-hours service ?
“I have written the Mrs Lesley McLay, Chief Executive of NHS Tayside to seek an assurance that withdrawal of out-of-hours GP services is only an emergency removal of the service and that they will be reinstated at the earliest opportunity.”