A campaign has been launched to protest the “downgrading” of accident and emergency services in Perthshire.
The fightback comes after the Scottish Government rubber-stamped NHS Tayside proposals for an overhaul of surgery services across the region, including transferring all unscheduled surgeries to Dundee.
This means any patient visiting A&E at Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI) in need of an operation will be sent to Ninewells Hospital.
Furious opposition MSPs in Perth and Kinross launched a petition against the plans after they were confirmed on Friday following a public consultation, calling them an “absolute betrayal”.
They say it is the latest in a line of services being reduced from PRI in recent years, including maternity, paediatrics and out-of-hours GP appointments.
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Liz Smith said: “There has been a long term movement of services away from PRI to Ninewells in Dundee, something which has impacted most on patients in the more rural communities of west and highland Perthshire.
“It is little wonder so many patients and their families feel so badly let down and angry and it is why we launched a new online petition at the weekend to allow the public to have their say.”
Ninewells will have a dedicated acute surgical receiving unit and an operating theatre staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week for unscheduled surgeries.
NHS Tayside said the shift will allow the expansion of the elective surgical service at PRI, to treat both cancer patients and those suffering from other conditions that require complex major surgery.
Stracathro Hospital will treat day and short stay patients.
Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said: “People across Perthshire who have fought hard over the years to secure the future of our local hospital will be furious at these plans to downgrade the A&E at PRI to little more than a minor injuries clinic.
“This announcement is an absolute betrayal of the people of Perth and Perthshire.
“How can there be an emergency department which doesn’t deal with emergencies?”
Fellow Mid Scotland and Fife Conservative MSP and former Perth City South councillor, Alexander Stewart, blamed financial mismanagement within NHS Tayside.
“There were always going to repercussions for PRI. This is yet another cut on the facilities at the fair city hospital,” he said.
Health secretary Jeanne Freeman said the changes were “in the best interests of the people of Tayside”.
“NHS Tayside has made a compelling case for these proposals which are supported by clinicians in order to deliver the best care possible,” she said.
“I have been clear that an absolute condition of agreeing to these proposals is that the A&E at PRI will be retained and continue to serve the people of Perthshire.”
The petition can be found at
http://bit.ly/HandsoffPRIforgood
.
