Holyrood Diary: Good news for maternity campaign and tribute to Nicola Sturgeon
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The month of March started with some good news for Moray with the Scottish Government announcing £6.6m of funding for the restoration of maternity services at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
This funding comes after NHS Grampian submitted plans to restore the consultant led service in Elgin to the Scottish Government at the end of last year.
According to NHS Grampian’s plan, Moray families will see a phased return to obstetric maternity services at Dr Gray’s, starting with complex obstetric antenatal care later this year; elective c-section births in early 2025; and a full consultant-led service returning in 2026.
I am delighted the Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has delivered this funding which means NHS Grampian can now move forward with the early parts of the plan and the first round of recruitment.
After so many challenges, this does feel like the first serious step forward in actually delivering the plan to restore these vital services.
I recently met with representatives from NHS Grampian and strongly conveyed the need for the health board to work flat out and to leave no stone unturned to secure the staff required to rebuild the services available to women at Dr Gray’s.
We know the full restoration of services will need to be reinstated in a phased way in order to ensure they’re safe, sustainable, and fit for the future. The £6.6m investment from the Scottish Government shows a real commitment to making sure that happens.
Having been involved in the campaign from the beginning, I know that this funding is only one part of the solution and I’m aware that Keep MUM and the wider community still have questions about the plans and the timescales involved.
As local MSP, I will continue to work with everyone involved to ensure the voice of women in Moray and the wider community is heard, both by NHS Grampian and the Scottish Government.
This is also my first column since First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced her decision to step down and I want to pay tribute to her for the incredible way in which she’s served our country over the last eight years.
Nicola and I were both elected back in 1999 in the first Scottish Parliament, and it has been an absolute honour to work alongside her over the years and especially since we have been in government since 2007.
She has been an outstanding leader who never wavers from her principles and is always straight with people – these are becoming rarer qualities in politicians these days.
Nicola can be very proud of her legacy and the way in which she guided the country through the Covid-19 pandemic, which I know won her a great deal of affection and admiration from people in Moray.
The leadership contest to replace Nicola is well underway and I look forward to finding out who SNP members have chosen to succeed her when the result is announced at the end of the month.
