PE1845: Agency to advocate for the healthcare needs of rural Scotland
Petition summary
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to create an agency to ensure that health boards offer ‘fair’ and ‘reasonable’ management of rural and remote healthcare issues.
Petitioner: Gordon Baird on behalf of Galloway Community Hospital Action Group
Status: Under consideration
Date published: 23 November 2020
Click here for the full petition
Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee Consideration
Committee Meetings
13 January 2021: The Committee agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport. The Committee also agreed to write to the Scottish Rural Health Partnership.
Official Report of Meeting 13 January 2021
10 March 2021: The Committee agreed to continue this petition and include it in its legacy paper for its successor Committee, along with a suggestion to seek views from the Remote and Rural General Practice Short Life Working Group, chaired by Sir Lewis Ritchie, and rural NHS boards, and to write to the Scottish Government to request an update on the National Centre for Rural Health.
Official Report of Meeting 10 March 2021
8 September: The Committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government. It also agreed to write to the Remote and Rural General Practice Short Life Working Group and to rural health boards.
Official Report of Meeting 8 September 2021
4 May 2022: The Committee agreed to invite the Petitioner to provide evidence at a future meeting.
Official Report of Meeting 4 May 2022
8 June 2022: The Committee took evidence from petitioner Gordon Baird and agreed to consider the evidence heard at a future meeting.
Official Report of Meeting 8 June 2022
15 June 2022:The Committee agreed to refer the petition to the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, in the context of that committee’s wider consideration of health inequalities.
Official Report of Meeting 15 June 2022
Written Submissions
PE1845/Q: Petitioner submission of 7 July 2021
PE1845/R: Caithness Health Action Team submission of 30 August 2021
PE1845/T: NHS Orkney and Shetland submission of 5 October 2021
PE1845/U: NHS Grampian submission of 3 October 2021
PE1845/V: NHS Dumfries and Galloway Health Board Submission of 19 December 2021
PE1845/W - Petitioner submission of 19 December 2021
PE1845/X: Claire Fleming submission of 27 April 2022 (193.2KB, pdf) posted 03 May 2022
PE1845/Y: Finlay Carson MSP submission of 3 May 2022 (55KB, pdf) posted 03 May 2022
Read any written submissions received before May 2021 on our old site
Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Consideration
Committee Meetings
25 October 2022: The Committee considered the following petitions—PE1915: Reinstate Caithness County Council and Caithness NHS Board. The Committee agreed to close the petition. PE1845: Agency to advocate for the healthcare needs of rural Scotland; PE1890: Find solutions to recruitment and training challenges for rural healthcare in Scotland; and PE1924: Complete an emergency in-depth review of Women's Health services in Caithness & Sutherland. The Committee agreed to write to rural health boards seeking evidence on the issues raised within the petitions before inviting the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to give oral evidence to the Committee.
Official Report of Meeting 25 October 2022
17 January 2023: The Committee took evidence from the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care. The Committee agreed to consider the evidence heard at a future meeting.
Official Report of Meeting 17 January 2023
Written Submissions
PE1845/Z: NHS Borders submission of 1 December 2022 (125.1KB, pdf) posted 08 December 2022
PE1845/AA: NHS Western Isles submission of 2 December 2022 (170.7KB, pdf) posted 08 December 2022
PE1845/BB: NHS Highland submission of 5 December 2022 (160.4KB, pdf) posted 08 December 2022
PE1845/CC: NHS Grampian submission of 6 December 2022 (82.9KB, pdf) posted 08 December 2022
PE1845/DD: NHS Ayrshire and Arran submission of 8 December 2022 (84.2KB, pdf) posted 09 December 2022
PE1845/EE: Petitioner submission of 30 December 2022 (365.6KB, pdf) posted 04 January 2023
PE1845/FF: Caithness Health Action Team submission of 31 December 2022 (67.2KB, pdf) posted 04 January 2023
PE1845/GG: Save our Services NHS Skye Group submission of 5 January 2023 (65.6KB, pdf) posted 10 January 2023
PE1845/HH: NHS Dumfries and Galloway submission of 16 January 2023 (75.1KB, pdf) posted 17 January 2023
PE1845/II: Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care submission of 31 January 2023 (215.5KB, pdf) posted 31 January 2023