Almost 400 residents attended an eleventh-hour summit to save Insch War Memorial Hospital, amid growing concerns the century-old building could be closed for good.
The hospital’s 11-bed inpatient ward and minor injury unit closed in 2020 to allow NHS nurses to work in central locations during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership (AHSCP) kept the doors closed since, citing operational and staffing costs.
Local politicians Harriet Cross MP and Alexander Burnett MSP held a public meeting to oppose new plans to declare the site surplus.
The meeting, at Insch Church Hall, was organised alongside the Friends of Insch Hospital and Bennachie Community Council.
Residents raised concerns about the loss of local services, increased travel times for treatment and the lack of any strategy for reopening.
Supporters believe reinstating the hospital would also alleviate acute ambulance stacking and bed-blocking pressures at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
They have also highlighted the hospital’s role in serving communities across a large swathe of Aberdeenshire such as Strathdon, Auchleven, Rhynie and Alford.
Insch treated more than 1,600 patients for minor injuries alone between 2015 and 2020.
The local Scottish Conservative politicians will now present the community’s views to AHSCP, whose members were invited but did not attend. Officials later said they were on leave.
Both have called for residents to be able to speak before AHSCP’s integrated joint board in September, when the results of a public consultation will be discussed.
Harriet Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan, said: “Residents made their views clear at this public meeting – they want this vital local hospital to remain open.
“Insch Hospital provided critical services to residents for a century, but now local people are being forced to travel miles for medical care they used to be able to receive on their doorsteps.
“This is a prime example of the erosion of local healthcare that people in Gordon and Buchan have become all too used to.
“I am deeply disappointed that no representatives from AHSCP or NHS Grampian attended this meeting so they could hear firsthand from residents about how permanent closure will affect them.”
Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, said: “The frustration of local people has grown over the last six years, compounded by the false promises they were made in 2021.
“They just want to see a plan that shows how this much-loved hospital can reopen fully.
In Case You Missed it:
“The optimal result is 11 inpatient beds, rehabilitation and palliative care in a modern environment with full staffing because that will reduce pressure on ARI and be massively beneficial to NHS Grampian elsewhere.”
