Community councils across Moray have given their backing to a campaign fighting to restore maternity services at Dr Gray’s Hospital.
The maternity unit at Dr Gray’s was downgraded in 2018.
NHS Grampian promised to reintroduce a consultant-led obstetrics unit at the Elgin hospital.
However, it could take almost 10 years for that to happen.
In July Elgin community councillor Neil Alexander asked fellow members to get behind the Keep Mum campaign group seeking the restoration of maternity services.
They also lobbied Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Humza Yousuf to push NHS Grampian for faster action.
Earlier this month, the Joint Community Councils of Moray unanimously supported the proposal as well.
Mr Alexander is aiming to get the letter sent this week once he receives formal responses from all 17 community councils.
He said: “It’s great to see community councils across Moray coming together over such an important issue.
“Any time I’ve spoken to anyone about this they’ve been fully behind it.
“Support is continuing to grow, and hopefully we’ll get the health secretary to push NHS Grampian on their timetable.
“The near-10-year time frame is just ridiculous.”
‘Ridiculous’
Around 75% of Moray women have their babies in Aberdeen, which is a 90-minute drive from Elgin.
Others go to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness which takes about an hour to get to by road.
This year two mothers have given birth at the side of the road on their way to Aberdeen.
Alastair Kennedy, chairman of the JCC said: “This is a Moray-wide issue and we feel that we need to help push it forward.
“To speak about this taking 10 years is absurd.
Dr Gray’s maternity time scale ‘absurd’
“It shouldn’t take that long if there’s a will to do it, and I can’t see the justification for that time scale.
“For folk in Moray it seems all the resources are sucked into Aberdeen.
“There is an opportunity here to show that’s not necessarily the case.”
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