Alison McInnes, Scottish Liberal MSP for the North East, last Thursday urged the Cabinet Secretary for Health to recognise the need to provide health facilities to people in towns with growing populations across the North East.
During General Questions in the Scottish Parliament, Mrs McInnes highlighted the fact that there are no confirmed plans to build medical facilities to provide services for the new Chapelton of Elsick development, despite the fact that it could provide up to 8,000 homes.
She argued: “Developers have offered a retail unit for the first 800 houses for a GP surgery and will set aside ground for a medical centre as the community grows. But a medical centre would cost millions and it is unclear where this funding would come from.
“Residents therefore fear that existing healthcare services, such as Portlethen Medical Centre – already amongst the busiest in the country with nearly 14,000 patients – could be overwhelmed.
“Given health boards were recently stripped of their powers to allocate capital funding, will the Minister take responsibility and act to ensure that residents in and around Chapelton of Elsick can access high quality health care in the future?”
In response, the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Alex Neil MSP, said that Mrs McInnes made “a number of very valid points” and indicated that he would consider any request from NHS Grampian for additional funding once its ongoing discussions with Aberdeenshire Council have concluded. He said that the Scottish Government could then assess whether it needs to intervene or help implement any agreed proposals.
Speaking after General Questions, Ms McInnes commented: “Official statistics show six of the biggest 20 practices, by patient list size, are in the North East.
“I am concerned that some GP practices in towns with burgeoning populations are already under considerable pressure with creaking facilities that are no longer fit-for-purpose. For example, the GP practices in Inverurie and Ellon already have 22,000 and 16,000 patients respectively, and both towns continue to grow.
“The building of the new town of Chapelton of Elsick in Kincardineshire is already underway. Three primary schools, a secondary school, retail outlets and employment opportunities are all planned, but a question mark still hangs over the provision of a medical centre.
“The Scottish Government holds the purse strings and can help find a solution. I am therefore pleased that the Cabinet Secretary indicated that his door is open should NHS Grampian need to request funding in order to provide the medical services that residents of this new town will need.”
North Kincardine councillor Ian Mollison welcomed the commitment from the Health Secretary. “This is a step forward and hopefully will result in a solution being found to this challenge. The provision of health care is the responsibility of the Scottish Government and NHS Grampian – not Aberdeenshire Council.”