Get involved

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: Closed

Date published: 23 November 2020

Click here for the full petition

SPICe Briefing

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/S: Sir Lewis Ritchie, Chair Remote and Rural General Practice Working Group submission of 7 October 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 (193KB, 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

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

21 February 2023: The Committee considered the following petitions—PE1845: Agency to advocate for the healthcare needs of rural Scotland; PE1890: Find solutions to recruitment and training challenges for rural healthcare in Scotland. The Committee agreed to close the petitions under Rule 15.7 of Standing Orders on the basis that the Committee would consider the issues raised in them as part of a broader inquiry into remote and rural healthcare, to be considered as part of its future work programme. PE1924: Complete an emergency in-depth review of Women's Health services in Caithness & Sutherland. The Committee agreed to defer further consideration of the petition until after the Best Start North Review has concluded.

Official Report of Meeting 21 February 2023