Additional NHS funds needed in wake of Covid
Additional funding and support for NHS services will be of paramount importance as the nation continues its recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
Perthshire North Scottish Conservative candidate Murdo Fraser said providing the platform to allow healthcare to broaden its focus as the pandemic recedes would be vital.
After stressing making the Covid-19 pandemic the priority was “very much”the right thing to do, he said:“We have a huge issue with the need to catch up in terms of the NHS.
“I’ve had numerous constituents express concerns to me that they’ve not been able to get a face-to-face appointment with a GP for the best part of a year now.
“There are people with serious conditions like early-stage cancer who are not getting detected because they’re not getting access to the normal screening programmes.
“One of our key election pledges is an extra £2billion for the NHS in the next parliament, to allow a focus on those who’ve got serious health concerns and ensure they get the attention they require.”
As part of a wide-ranging interview, Mr Fraser concluded by highlighting support for local policing as another key priority.
He said:“Policing is both a local issue and a national one because one of the things that has come up a lot since the creation of the single police force in Scotland is a sense that there isn’t the level of local police presence there was perhaps in the years before that. In recent years we’ve seen the closure of the police counters at local stations and it’s sad to say that I think people’s experience of calling the 101 call centre is not a good one. They find that they are waiting an awfully long time and they end up speaking to someone with very little local knowledge. So I think that looking at how we improve access to the police is important, but also just in terms of visibility – perhaps seeing officers taking a more proactive role rather than being reactive.”