Moray MP Douglas Ross says he is waiting with “bated breath” ahead of plans being revealed tomorrow (Tuesday) by NHS Grampian outlining how consultant-led services will be fully returned to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
Douglas took part in a briefing from the health board to hear about the proposals for ‘Model 6’ that would see consultant-led services finally return to Moray.
The briefing was led by Simon Bokor-Ingram, Chief Officer of Health and Social Care in Moray while Douglas also questioned NHS Grampian Business Manager Christina Cameron, local midwifery manager Gill Valentine and the board’s marketing director Stuart Humphreys.
The officials outlined plans that would see consultant-led services return to Dr Gray’s by the end of 2026, a full eight years after what expectant mothers were told would be a one-year ‘temporary downgrade’ of services.
Under questioning from Douglas Ross, the board also confirmed that further funding will have to be delivered by the SNP Government if the proposed timescales are to be delivered.
The local MP also raised concerns over the marketing strategy to recruit new staff, which he says should have been far more 'rigorous and urgent' in the meantime, with future strategies not terribly different from previous ones.
Douglas, who has first-hand experience of having to follow his wife to Aberdeen to see her give birth to their second son, says that the full paper simply has to “fully alleviate the fears of expectant mothers and campaigners in Moray once and for all.”
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “I appreciate the time taken by NHS Grampian officials to provide me with a briefing ahead of the much-anticipated board papers which will outline how consultant-led services will be fully restored to Dr Gray’s.
“I will await that paper with bated breath tomorrow after this update still set a fair few alarm bells ringing for me and failed to fully answer some key issues facing expectant mothers and tireless campaigners.
“The board will try and say that delivering the return of consultant-led services by the end of 2026 as a good thing, and we all want to see that achieved at the earliest possible opportunity. However, the stark reality is that if that is the case it will have been eight and half years of a so-called temporary downgrade to services.
“That is no cause for celebration. I also have concerns over how the health board are going to recruit new staff, with new strategies not being terribly different from previous ones, which have proved unsuccessful in attracting skilled healthcare workers to live and work in Moray.
“With costs also expected to rise, local people will be worried that further funding will not be forthcoming, given the lack of urgency from the SNP Government ever since services were temporarily downgraded.
“This board paper tomorrow must fully alleviate the fears of expectant mothers and tireless campaigners in Moray once and for all over the future of maternity services. I will continue to hold NHS Grampian and the SNP Government to account at every turn on this issue, to ensure Moray mothers do not have to continue giving birth outwith our area.”