MSP calls on NHS Tayside to assure public over Stracathro

An Angus politician has called on NHS Tayside to publicly release plans for Stracathro Hospital.

SNP MSP Mairi Gougeon made the call after receiving assurances from the health board that Stracathro is not earmarked for closure despite a reduction in services.

The Angus and Mearns MSP wrote to NHS Tayside last month asking it to allay fears some of her constituents had expressed over the long-term future of the hospital after the removal of some key services.

In a letter to the health board, she wrote she was becoming “concerned” about the diminution of services in Angus.

She said: “There have been growing concerns in my constituency over the future of Stracathro Hospital, from those living in Angus and Aberdeenshire.

“A number of my constituents have expressed fears that the removal of services from Stracathro would ultimately lead to the closure of the hospital.

“I share some of those concerns, especially when you consider some of the services which have already been removed and the consultations that have been conducted around surgical services and the future of the Mulberry Unit.

“However, in the past few months I have received a commitment from both the cabinet secretary for health and sport and the chief executive of NHS Tayside that the future of Stracathro Hospital is secure.

“It’s important that these reassurances are relayed to the wider public in Angus.”

It was announced last month that endoscopy procedures would no longer be carried out in Angus.