Moray MP Douglas Ross has given a ‘cautious welcome’ to the latest plans to restore consultant-led services at Dr Gray’s in Elgin but says more detail is “urgently required” on what lies ahead.
Douglas’ reaction comes after he led a Members’ Business Debate in the Scottish Parliament on the continued lack of consultant-led services in Moray, despite expectant mums being told the downgrade was only temporary in 2018.
His motion had hit out at the fact that this will be the fifth winter Moray mums have largely had to travel elsewhere to give birth due to the situation at Dr Gray’s and called for a “full focus” on delivering Model 6, after NHS Grampian finally unveiled their plans to restore consultant-led services last week.
Douglas says he welcomes the response from SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf to now abandon plans to continue with Model 4, something which the Moray MP had long been calling for and clinicians across NHS Highland and NHS Grampian had raised grave concerns about.
However, he says that the “devil will be in the detail” as to how plans to deliver Model 6 will now be delivered and what further support will be provided to do so.
Douglas has also welcomed the reassurances given by Humza Yousaf over funding commitments to restore consultant-led services at Dr Gray’s, after the health board had outlined how millions will be needed in the coming years.
He is urging Humza Yousaf to ensure that this funding is available as quickly as possible to ensure that the proposed timescales, which might see consultant-led births not return until 2027, does not slip any further.
However, Douglas has slammed the Health Secretary for his refusal to accept his suggestion, made with others including campaigners Keep Mum to rule out appointing an independent project manager to oversee NHS Grampian’s progress in returning maternity services to Dr Gray’s.
He says that local people “simply do not trust” NHS Grampian and that an external project team would have given local people more confidence that current plans on Model 6 will stay on track.
Moray MP Douglas Ross said: “I was pleased to have the opportunity to bring this debate on such an important issue for my constituents to the Scottish Parliament before Christmas. I was determined to do so at the earliest chance after NHS Grampian published their long-awaited plans to restore consultant-led services at Dr Gray’s last week.
“I was pleasantly surprised by some of the moves and commitments from SNP Health Secretary Humza Yousaf in response to the demands made by myself and campaigners.
“It was clear not only to me, but frontline clinicians and campaigners that Model 4 simply was not working and should be abandoned. It is welcome that Humza Yousaf has now agreed to those calls, but the devil will be in the detail and that is urgently required.
"It is all fine and well tweaking names of options, but this needs to be backed up by further support and action since the full focus must now be on Model 6 and the full return of consultant-led services at Dr Gray’s.
“Humza Yousaf appeared to be committed to delivering the funding required by NHS Grampian, which is crucial in ensuring that timescales do not slip any further. I will be following up on these points when I seek a meeting to discuss this further with the Health Secretary early in the New Year.
“It is already outrageous that by the time services return to Dr Gray’s, that Moray mothers will have endured over eight years of a supposed temporary downgrade and it would be beyond unacceptable if that slipped further.
“What is also unacceptable is the Health Secretary’s point-blank refusal to consider the call from myself and campaigners like Keep Mum to appoint an independent project management team to oversee NHS Grampian’s progress. I will continue to urge the Scottish Government to do this because local people simply do not trust NHS Grampian anymore. An independent team being appointed would have given Moray mums and families some confidence that progress will not be stalled or delayed.
“I’m grateful to everyone who contributed to my debate and I will continue to fight at every turn to ensure consultant-led maternity services at Dr Gray’s will return as soon as possible. We have an outstanding team of dedicated staff in the maternity unit at Dr Gray’s and I want to see the vast majority of Moray families having their babies in our local hospital.”