Moray SNP News

KEEP MUM CAMPAIGN SET FOR TALKS WITH HEALTH SECRETARY

Richard Lochhead MSP and representatives of the Keep MUM campaign will meet with the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Shona Robison, tomorrow to discuss the staffing and recruitment challenges in relation to women’s and children’s services at Dr Gray’s Hospital.

Speaking ahead of the meeting Mr Lochhead said:

“The recruitment challenges at Dr Gray’s are well known and the challenges the health board has had recruiting junior doctors and other key staff has led to a temporary reduction in some services, including the Maternity Unit and paediatrics.

The importance of the local maternity unit to Moray cannot be underestimated and the community have responded quickly to form the Keep Mum campaign group, sending a powerful message to NHS Grampian that we value and want to protect our hard won consultant led Maternity Unit.

“I was pleased to be able to arrange for representatives of Keep MUM to meet with the Health Secretary, to give them the opportunity to brief her on their campaign and to raise awareness of the need for the situation at Dr Gray’s to be resolved as soon as possible. We need a team effort to get these services back up to previous levels.

Kirsty Watson, Chair of the Keep MUM campaign added:

“We welcome the opportunity to meet with Shona Robison, which will provide us with a valuable opportunity to appraise her of the Keep MUM campaign. 

“Since the issues around maternity and paediatric services at Dr Gray’s have been made public we have received a huge amount of support from the people of Moray.  The services at Dr Gray’s continues to be under threat and it is important that we keep the issue in the public eye.

“Our expectation is that NHS Grampian should do all it can to safeguard the specialist maternity unit in Elgin so that mothers can continue to give birth safely in their local hospitals.”