Hundreds of people including SNP MSP Kate Forbes marched through a Highland town today urging the Scottish Government to fund a new hospital that was promised to the community more than 20 years ago.
Belford Hospital in Fort William is the busiest of the six rural general hospitals in the Highlands and Islands and is the only one that has not been renewed in the past 40 years.
Plans to replace the hospital were at an advanced stage ( contractors had visited the site for ground works) when in January staff and the community were dealt a crushing blow after the Scottish Government announced it may not be able to sanction the cash needed to fund the £160 million project.
NHS Highland said the pause in capital funding was "very disappointing for everyone involved" and sounding a supportive note to the protestors said it "recognised that the voice of the community needs to be heard".
Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf blamed "disastrous mismanagement of the economy from the UK Government and a 10% Capital cut" for the decision to pull funding for this project and others across the country.
It is estimated that the population of Lochaber triples between Easter and the end of October from 20,000 to 60,000 due to tourists, a proportion of which will require hospital care in the UK's outdoor capital.
The hospital serves a population of around 400,000 and has one operating theatre, limited A&E space and no MRI scanner.
Speaking at today's rally Lib Dem councillor Angus MacDonald said: "The Scottish Government found £1.1bn to build a second, un-needed Forth Road Bridge.
"They found £1bn to build Glasgow's new Queen Elizabeth hospital, they found £1bn for the Edinburgh trams. Can we not have £160m for our new hospital up here?
"We are so desperate for this hospital - Humza you can be remembered for doing something great."
SNP MSP Kate Forbes said she has a meeting with Health Secretary Neil Gray this week and has already raised the Belford with First Minister Humza Yousaf.
She said: "The community is really clear as I am about what we want to see. Nobody is asking, right now, for £160 million to build a new hospital.
"What we are asking for is a drop in the ocean to progress the planning so that is is shovel ready.
"My big ask is for permission to progress plans and I totally get that public funding is extremely tight and the UK government has cut the capital budget by a devastating amount but when finances are tight it's all the more reason to not be wasteful with funding and we know that money has been spent to the bring the plans to this point.
"NHS Highland has said to me that they would need Scottish Government permission and support to keep going with the funding but what we need from NHS Highland is the commitment to really prioritise this because they need to be fighting for it - ultimately NHS Highland drives it."
She added: "The worst thing would be if there is apathy and a suggestion it is too difficult to do."
Labour's Rhoda Grant added: "The community in Lochaber have already waited decades for their new hospital and this further delay is unacceptable."
"The other [rural general hospitals] have have had double figures of millions of pounds spend on them in the past 35 years," said David Sedgwick, who was told Fort William would have a new hospital by 2002.
"The hospital staff provide very good care in the limited facilities.".
"It has to be remembered that Raigmore Hospital is two hours away from Fort William and the Glasgow hospitals are three hours away.
March to reverse delays to the new Belford Hospital at Fort William pic.twitter.com/AvDQKEQ38i
— Dr Gordon Caldwell (@doctorcaldwell) March 16, 2024
"Patients should not be expected to travel such distances for routine investigations, treatment and procedures," added Mr Sedgwick.
"The second theatre would enable visiting consultants to perform routine procedures in Fort William.
"The staff have put up with all the constraints of the present building knowing that a new hospital was imminent and to have that taken away now is a real blow to their morale."
READ MORE:
'Come up and see what we are dealing with': Senior doctor's plea to Michael Matheson
Kate Forbes demands urgent talks as 20-year delayed hospital facing further setback
Catherine Salmond: Our Highland series draws to a close but our commitment does not
"We hope the Scottish Government will listen to the call of the people of Lochaber."
Dr Gordon Caldwell said he was asked to spend a month at the hospital in 2019 by NHS Highland and compiled a report which warned that the "structure and processes were inadequate."
In 2003, thousands of people turned out to protest over plans to downgrade either the Belford or Lorne and Islands hospital.
Almost 6,000 letters were sent to chairman of NHS Highland which led to the plans being abandoned.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here