Labour should ditch plans for health "superboards" 

Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has today said that Labour should ditch their plans for centralising control over healthcare in the hands of three regional "superboards".

Her call comes after Scottish Labour set out plans to reduce the number of health boards in Scotland from 14 to 3.

Ms Wishart said:

"Scottish Labour fundamentally misunderstands island and rural communities if they think that  our needs are best served by a health board that could be based as far away as Dundee.

"It's like they have learned nothing from the SNP's failures in trying to centralise the running of social care services or the erosion of local links when a single national police force was established.

“NHS Shetland already works well in partnership with NHS Grampian and other boards for health treatments that are not available in the isles.

“Regardless of which party proposes centralising health services, I cannot see how Islanders’ needs and the services to deliver them, are best met by a mainland superboard. These were bad ideas when they were coming out of the SNP. They are bad ideas in the hands of Labour too.

"I cannot imagine that the Western Isles and their Labour MP are any happier about this than I am.

"Scottish Liberal Democrats will stand in opposition to any erosion of local health services."