A Holyrood committee has launched an inquiry seeking to identify the key issues facing healthcare services for remote and rural areas across Scotland – which often suffer from a ‘postcode lottery’ in terms of access and level of speciality care.

The Scottish parliament’s Health, Social Care and Sport Committee will investigate the different barriers and concerns facing people living areas away from the main centres of population.

The committee says it wants to hear from healthcare staff and members of the public to better understand the specific challenges people in these areas face and what can be done to improve services in these places.

National Records of Scotland data has revealed ‘accessible’ remote rural areas have seen the greatest population growth over the last decade. While most people still live in cities, around 10.6% more people were living in remote rural areas of Scotland by mid-2021 compared to mid-2011.

Rural areas also face specific demographic challenges in terms of demand for healthcare, with a generally lower proportion of people aged 16 to 44 and a higher proportion of people aged 45 and over – particularly those 65 and above.

Some of the issues already raised for Scotland’s remote rural populations are the recruitment and retention of health and social care, training for staff and access to services.

Convener of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee, Clare Haughey, explained the inquiry will look to provide a platform of those from remote rural areas. Launching the inquiry, she said:

“Scotland’s geography means much of its healthcare is accessed and delivered in remote and rural areas and that’s why the committee is keen to hear of the specific issues impacting healthcare services in these locales.

“We want to hear the experiences of individuals and representatives from remote and rural areas, and from those who work or have worked in remote and rural healthcare, on what they think the particular challenges facing the sector are.

“Our inquiry aims to provide a platform for the views of those in remote and rural areas to be heard and our committee is keen to hear from as wide a range of organisations and individuals as possible.”

Scotland’s Cabinet Minister for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care’s brief includes working with health and social care bodies to improve integrated services and centres for excellence for rural and remote medicine and social care.

In April, Mr Matheson told healthandcare.scot that the government’s plan for the a National Care Service “will deliver consistency and quality of care”, a commitment that some Scots living with dementia are hopeful to see come to fruition.

The Committee’s convener, Clare Haughey added that hearing from service providers and the public will help to assess the success of the Scottish government’s efforts to improve this consistency of care:

“Sharing your views will help the Committee better understand the varied and particular issues facing rural and remote healthcare services and help our scrutiny of the Scottish government and other key stakeholders in their approach to delivering healthcare in these areas.”

The call for views is now open and will run until the 11 August 2023.

Read more:  Mr Yousaf: “Scotland is a great place to work”; Over a million unpaid carers going unsupported; Analysis: Why people are left behind; Community Link Workers can't solve health inequalities alone; Auditor General: Difficult choices for Scotland's NHS

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