Concerns over “critical pressure” on Turriff community’s local healthcare services will be the focus of a public meeting next week
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Concerns over GP availability, minor injury unit provision and ambulance cover have all been at the front of discussion in the Turriff area since before the pandemic.
Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid says these have “intensified” since Covid because of the pandemic’s repercussions on staffing.
He has asked local people to attend a public meeting on Monday to which he has also invited representatives of the Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, Scottish Ambulance Service and the local GP practice, to discuss how local services can now be rebuilt.
Mr Duguid has also extended a cross-party invitation to local MSPs and councillors, because the issues experienced in rural Aberdeenshire are “impacted by all three levels of government.”
The Conservative MP said: “There are long-standing issues around ambulance times, doctor recruitment and the question marks over Turriff Cottage Hospital and MIU, all affecting the town and the surrounding rural area.
"This has intensified since the start of the pandemic, as it increased the critical pressure on staffing.
“The objective is to get these services engaging with the community, opening a dialogue, and fostering a better understanding of the issues facing residents, what resources are available and what still needs to be done.
“This will be a non-political event – everyone wants the restoration of services to a level which gives 100 per cent public confidence.
“I know constituents regularly engage with councillors and MSPs about local healthcare, as well as with me as their MP and there are issues which are impacted by all three levels of government.
“As well as giving residents an opportunity to air their concerns, health service providers will also be able to get across key information on what services are available and how they operate in a post-Covid world.”
The meeting will be held on Monday, August 8 at 7pm in the Baden Powell Centre in Turriff.
