Fears are growing that a 2018 SNP Minister’s promise to help build a new Royal Deeside health centre have been abandoned.
Eight years ago, Banchory residents began a campaign to build a hub that would bring the town’s health needs for a growing population under one roof.
As the local MSP, Alexander Burnett formally asked then health secretary Shona Robison to outline what the Scottish Government would do to help support the construction.
Ms Robison, who stepped down as an MSP this week, said health chiefs “agreed a prioritisation plan for primary care premises” and that Banchory was “a priority within this plan of potential funding”.
A site was found in Banchory for a new health centre. In Ellon, NHS Grampian also bought land at the old academy site for a replacement health centre.
But the Scottish Government froze new NHS projects in January 2024.
Now, Scottish Conservative Mr Burnett asked the government for “an update on the pledge made by the health secretary in 2018 to prioritise the development of new primary care premises in Banchory.”
Ms Robison’s most recent successor as health secretary, Neil Gray, said the government is considering “long-term investment priorities” as part of an “infrastructure development pipeline”.
Only one Grampian project appears in the pipeline as it was published during the February Scottish budget, the Baird and ANCHOR project in Aberdeen.
Mr Gray states:
“The next stage will consider long-term investment priorities and Boards – including NHS Grampian – have been instructed to undertake strategic assessments with returns required during 2026-27 and by not later than 31 March 2027.
“A key part of this work is the development of an infrastructure investment strategy programme for primary care as announced in the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline on 13 January 2026. An initial tranche of 12 projects has been selected for their health, population demographic and estate needs.”
Alexander Burnett, the Scottish Conservative candidate for Aberdeenshire West in May’s Scottish Parliament election, said:
“This is extremely disappointing for the community.
“We were given very good cause for optimism for a modern health and social care facility.
“Yet despite that early support, the town has seen almost no movement on a project that was supposed to bring vital services together under one roof.
“And the empty pipeline Neil Gray points to only confirms local concerns, that this project has been booted into the next decade, if not longer.
“Meanwhile, Banchory’s population continues to grow and the benefits of a new centre with improved access, better integration of care, and much‑needed capacity are becoming more urgent.
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“NHS Grampian were already waiting for confirmation of money, four years before the SNP advice to pause new capital projects. So that excuse rings hollow.
“They have to realise the need for this new centre and understand the growing disappointment of the community.”
