An MSP has claimed people in remote and rural areas have “far worse” access to healthcare than people in urban areas.
And Dr Sandesh Gulhane has called for an inquiry into the problem.
He made the plea during a Scottish Parliament meeting to consider a petition from Dr Gordon Baird of the Galloway Community Hospital Action Group.
Dr Baird had been pushing for an “agency to advocate for the healthcare needs of rural Scotland”.
At the health, social care and sport committee on Tuesday, Dr Gulhane praised the work of staff, who he said were “extremely dedicated and work very hard”.
But he added: “Despite their hard work, I feel our patients who live in remote and rural areas get a far worse service than those who live in urban communities do.”
He highlighted a lack of staff and also travel issues, using the example of when he had to tackle a flooded road on his way to carrying out a GP shift in Dumfries and Galloway.
The Scottish Conservatives’ Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health said: “That’s what patients face day in, day out in rural areas and what we offer is not good enough.”
He suggested an inquiry to look at the issues.
South Scotland SNP MSP Emma Harper said Dr Baird had been raising the plight of cancer patients in Dumfries and Galloway for 20 years.
As NHS Dumfries and Galloway is part of the South East Cancer Network, patients have to travel to Edinburgh for treatment, even if Glasgow is closer.
Ms Harper said: “For 20 years, there’s been very little progress to hear the voices of the people who live remotely and rurally in NHS Dumfries and Galloway, but also wider areas and I’m concerned if we don’t keep the petition open, if we don’t hear from the witnesses in this committee, we might lose sight of what the real issues are for people in remote rural areas.”
Committee convener Gillian Martin said that closing the petition didn’t mean previous evidence would be dismissed and people could have their say as part of a wider inquiry.
The committee agreed to close Dr Baird’s petition “with the proviso that we actually include the issues in a wider piece of work that we might do”.
