The SNP’s health secretary has been urged to visit a mothballed hospital amid calls for the Scottish Government to release promised funding to save the lifeline healthcare facility.
Gordon and Buchan MP Harriet Cross, alongside Aberdeenshire West MSP Alexander Burnett, have written a letter to Angela Constance calling on her to save Insch Community Hospital from permanent closure – a promise made by Nicola Sturgeon in 2021.
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.
In the joint letter, Constance has been invited to meet members of the Friends of Insch Hospital for a tour of the empty building and to discuss how it can be reopened.
The visit would mark more than five years since the then-First Minister Nicola Sturgeon travelled to Insch and personally pledged that the hospital would open again, stating any alternative outcome would be “unacceptable”.
Sturgeon promised to reopen the hospital – by name – as part of a £10 billion “replace and refurbish” package announced during the SNP’s 2021 Holyrood election campaign.
Less than two weeks ago, almost 400 residents attended an eleventh-hour summit to save the Aberdeenshire facility amid fears the century-old building could be closed for good later this year.
The results of an eight-week consultation gathering views on the impacts of a permanent closure will be discussed at a meeting of Aberdeenshire’s Integration Joint Board on September 2 after health bosses signalled their intention to “declare the building surplus”.
In their joint letter to the SNP health secretary, Harriet Cross MP and Alexander Burnett MSP said: “If you are serious about reducing pressure on A&E, getting people out of hospital quicker, and investing in local health services, you could begin by restoring rural health services that have been closed and severely cut in recent years.
“First among these should be Insch War Memorial Hospital, which your government repeatedly promised to ‘save’, yet have taken no action or provided any funding to do so.
“We hosted a public meeting in Insch to aid the community’s effort to save the hospital. We heard powerful and at times heartbreaking stories from nearly 400 attendees, including many medical professionals and NHS workers, about the impact this closure has had.
“They made clear how much the hospital means to them and demonstrated the vital role it could play in reducing pressure on Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.”
The letter added: “The Insch War Memorial Hospital building is in excellent condition.
“The community has put considerable effort and fundraising into developing a plan that would make the hospital functional and ready to use.
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“All that is required now is for the Scottish Government and Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, whose absence from the public meeting was deeply disappointing, to come good on their promises to restore services.
“There is a ready-made solution here that would help reduce pressure on Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
“That is why we would be delighted to welcome you to Insch to meet members of the Friends of Insch Hospital, show you the facility, and discuss how it can be reopened.”
