NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Use 20 January 2010a KINLOCH RANNOCH REQUIRES ADEQUATE HEALTH SERVICE Mid-Scotland & Fife Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has called on NHS Tayside to reinstate an out-of-hours GP service for Kinloch Rannoch after evidence from health experts to the Scottish Parliament’s Health & Sport Committee shows that Scotland’s rural communities could be suffering without such a service. The Centre for Rural Health and Centre for International Public Health Policy claimed alternatives to out-of-hours GP service were not always providing an adequate service. The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee will visit Kinloch Rannoch on Monday 25th January 2010 to take advice from the community during the Committee’s inquiry on out-of-hours healthcare provision in rural areas. The meeting will take place at the Macdonald Hotel in Kinloch Rannoch and is open to the public to watch proceedings. If the public are interested in attending, they can register via the Scottish Parliament’s Visitor Services on 0131 348 5200 (tickets do not have to be picked up – it is simply to register your attendance). Murdo Fraser MSP said: “Submissions to the Health Committee’s inquiry into out-of-hours healthcare provision in rural areas indicates that rural areas like Highland Perthshire are getting a second-class service. It is unacceptable that people in Kinloch Rannoch and the surrounding area have an inadequate health service and this latest evidence means we must see an out-of-hours GP service reinstated. “The Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee is coming to Kinloch Rannoch and people are able to attend if they register with the parliament’s Visitor Services on 0131 348 5200. I am sure that we will see a good turn-out in Kinloch Rannoch to hear the evidence for and against an out-of-hours GP service for the local community. “The people of Kinloch Rannoch clearly do not want a diluted health service and it is clear that the area needs out-of-hours GP cover due to its size and distance from a hospital. It has been made clear to NHS Tayside that the reinstatement of out-of-hours GP cover is needed and many people, including health experts, believe that anything short of this will not be adequate cover.” ENDS   back to top of page