Labour candidate slams decision to axe Beechgrove home to save cash

The Labour candidate in next month’s Highland Ward by-election has slammed the planned closure of Beechgrove House Care Home.

Jayne Ramage condemned the decision taken last week to board up the Perth care home.

She said: “NHS Tayside delivered £45.5m in ‘efficiency savings’ last year, but this was still not enough to close the funding gap caused by years of under-spend on the NHS, by the Scottish Government.

“Just what these efficiency savings really mean was made brutally clear a couple of days ago.

“At a meeting of the joint body between NHS Tayside and Perth and Kinross Council that runs social care, the un-elected board chair, refused elected councillors the right to put amendments to stop plans to close the Beechgrove House Care Home in Perth.

“This closure will be yet another step to pushing elderly and vulnerable people into the hands of the private sector, a sector where several big operators are on the brink of collapse and often employ staff on zero hours contracts.

“It is well documented that forcibly moving frail and sometimes confused patients from an environment that they are comfortable and familiar with can have devastating and life-shortening consequences.

“In the case of Beechgrove, all to make an ‘efficiency saving’ of £528,000 a year.

“After nearly 10 years of being completely in charge of Scotland’s NHS, the SNP cannot escape from responsibility for the performance of Scotland’s NHS.

“Only Labour is committed to an end to privatisation and for a fully funded NHS, with the return of ‘outsourced’ activities back into the NHS.”

Jayne Ramage concluded: “As a councillor I will never vote for cuts in the NHS or care sector.

“The Scottish Government must be made to find the resources from those that can afford it, not pass the buck onto the sick and elderly.”

The by-election, called after the death of Ian Campbell, will take place on Thursday, April 19.