Members' Business — S6M-14408 Tim Eagle: Improving Access to Health and Social Care in Rural Scotland

That the Parliament considers that people living in remote and rural areas face unique challenges when it comes to accessing health and social care; understands that the recruitment and retention of staff, poor infrastructure, and the inability to access certain services are all common issues that impact health and social care in rural and remote areas; notes what it sees as the failure of the Scottish Government to deliver infrastructure investment in the Highlands and Islands region and elsewhere, including the failure to deliver a new Belford Hospital in Fort William, complete upgrades to Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin, and build a replacement hospital for the Isle of Barra, among other delayed projects; understands that many communities in rural areas face a reduction of services, such as the reduced access to NHS dentistry in Dunoon and loss of care home beds across the Highlands and Islands region; believes that all of these factors contribute to the wider issue of rural depopulation, and notes the calls for the Scottish Government to properly invest in health and social care in rural and remote areas and deliver better health outcomes for residents.