Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate for Moray West, Nairn, and Strathspey Kathleen Robertson says it is “deeply concerning” some hospitals in NHS Highland have either never been inspected or not been inspected for over five years.
Analysis from the Scottish Conservatives of Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) data shows 36 hospitals across Scotland have never been inspected while a further 29 have not been inspected in the last half-decade.
That total of 65 comprises more than half of the current number of working hospitals in Scotland.
The findings show that in NHS Highlands, 12 hospitals have never been inspected including Nairn Town and Country Hospital, while a further 7 have not been inspected for five years or more. Shockingly, only Raigmore in Inverness has been inspected in the last 5 years. Dr Grays was last inspected in November 2017.
Kathleen says that hospital inspections play a vital role in reassuring patients and staff in NHS Highlands that their hospital is as safe as it can be.
She says it is “particularly shocking” that inspections are not being carried out when the local NHS is under immense pressure ahead of the winter period.
There are calls on SNP health secretary Michael Matheson to urgently get a grip of this situation and guarantee hospitals in the Highlands will be regularly inspected.
Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate Kathleen Robertson said: “The fact that hospitals in NHS Highlands have either never been inspected or have not been inspected for over five years is deeply concerning.
“Inspections play a vital role in ensuring that patients and staff know that their hospital is operating as safely as possible.
“It is particularly shocking to see these figures emerge at a time when our NHS in the Highlands is under immense pressure and facing the prospect of a truly terrifying winter period.
“The onus is on the SNP health secretary – who is already presiding over an A&E crisis – to get a grip of this situation.
“He must guarantee that hospitals in the Highlands that have never – or not recently – been inspected, will be as a matter of urgency.”