Essential to keep health services local

HEALTH care is a matter always close to home, and my SNP colleagues and I are campaigning to ensure it remains so.

Indeed, I spoke in a parliamentary debate this week on the very topic of taking the NHS local. I stressed the basic principle that health care should be kept as local as possible, and as specialised as necessary.

In recent years, we have seen the Scottish Executive continually attempt to centralise our health service and downgrade local hospitals. The closure of eight A and E services across Scotland is testimony to this.

As we are all aware, two of our local maternity units were recently under threat of closure by NHS Grampian. Following active community-based campaigns, however, a welcome announcement by the Health Minister confirmed that birthing units will remain in Banff and Fraserburgh.

I took the opportunity to commend the Minister in parliament on righting what would have been a serious wrong against the people of Banff and Buchan. People have the right to give birth and undergo other medical procedures, as far as is possible, within their local vicinities, without the hassle and stress of having to travel to the nearest city.

The SNP has always maintained the simple belief that patients should be treated as quickly and as close to home as possible and, if elected in May, we will be committed to retaining local health provision.

IN THIS age of mass car use, stories of road fatalities are sadly never far from the headlines. This is especially true in the North-east, where 62 people died on the roads last year, and 209 were seriously injured. Predictably, most of these tragedies involved young men aged 17 to 25.

In the many rural parts of Banff and Buchan, driving is an everyday necessity, increasing the number of cars on our roads and hence the risk of accidents.

Each of these deaths comes as a severe blow to the victim's community and society in general, not to mention the sheer devastation suffered by the bereaved family and friends.

Added to the immense emotional cost of these accidents is the staggering financial cost. Last month police estimated that road carnage cost the local economy more than £80m.

What's more, road incidents have become a huge strain on public resources – on the police force, the NHS and even the fire service. Grampian Fire Service reported that it is now more often called out to car crashes than house fires.

The time has come for some radical thinking to combat this persistent problem and prevent the carnage continuing – one death on the road is one too many.

The root of the problem lies partly in the poor state of our roads. In its time in power, the Lib-Lab Executive has allowed thoroughfares to continually deteriorate, particularly our trunk road network.

However, securing the architecture of our roads is not alone sufficient to reverse this trend – the very mentality of drivers must be addressed. In this case, youth attitudes are clearly the issue. Education of our young people in road safety is the key to tackling the recklessness which lies behind so many of these crashes.

This is why I welcomed the introduction last week of the 'Pass-Plus' scheme, a pilot advanced driving course for young drivers in the North-east.

Though I lament the fact that it is not offered to all young drivers free of charge, it is a definite step in the right direction. To demonstrate my commitment, I pledged to pay, or refund, the £15 Pass-Plus entry fee for the first ten under-25s from the constituency who have passed their driving test in the last twelve months.

Under an SNP government, young people will be introduced to the concept of road safety at a much earlier stage and will be allowed to sit the theory component of their driving test at school. Early intervention will ensure a high standard of road safety awareness in young people across the board at the crucial point – before they get behind the wheel.