Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife has called for the establishment of an Independent Scrutiny Panelfor NHS Tayside. The call comes following the proposal by NHS Tayside to remove the emergency surgery unit from Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI).
Independent Scrutiny Panels were introduced to consider proposals for major changes in local NHS services in Scotland. The aim of independent scrutiny is to provide assurance to the public that all of the factors relevant to proposed service changes have been explored thoroughly and fully taken into account, therefore helping to maintain confidence in the change process. To date only three separate Panels have been set up in Lanarkshire and NHS Ayrshire & Arran, Clyde area, and Dumfries & Galloway.The Perthshire based MSP has been leading the campaign to save the emergency surgery unit at PRI. Liz Smith Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife said: “I believe that given the proposal by NHS Tayside to remove the emergency surgery unit from Perth Royal Infirmary and the silence which we have seen to date from the SNP Scottish Government, the time has come to see the establishment ofan Independent Scrutiny Panel for NHS Tayside. “A newIndependent Scrutiny Panel for NHS Tayside would betasked to bring to bear independent, expert, probing scrutiny on the relevant service changes and provide an assurance to the public, through the Panel’s published commentary, that any proposals put forward by NHS Tayside and SNP Ministers to remove health services from Perthshire and Kinross-shire are given proper independent scrutiny. “NHS Tayside and SNP Ministers must be held to account for the decisions which they take on local health service provision and I am determined that facts will be at the heart of this. If NHS Boards do not wish to listen to the concerns of the people they serve, then perhaps they will accept the independent view of a Scrutiny Panel. “I am becoming increasingly concerned that NHS Tayside and the SNP Scottish Government are not looking at the health service needs of residents across Perth & Kinross and looking to the future population projections when they are allocating resources and designing health services. “Scottish Conservatives believes that NHS Tayside’s proposals to shut the emergency surgery unit at PRI are deeply flawed and illogical. The population in Perthshire & Kinross-shire has increased by 7% since 2001 and projections show the population is set to increase by 27% in the period 2008-2033, so on what basis is the downgrade of the emergency surgery unit taking place. “I believe that anyone independently assessing the population projections in communities covered by NHS Tayside would conclude that additional health resources will need to be allocated in the future to provide the health services which communities across Perthshire and Kinross-shire will require. “Independent Scrutiny Panel, were established by the former SNP Cabinet Secretary for Health, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, following the demand of Conservative MSPs and the new Cabinet Secretary for Health, Alex Neil MSP. “I have today written again to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Alex Neil MSP, requesting that an Independent Scrutiny Panel is established to cover NHS Tayside.”