MORAY’S MSP WILL meet with representatives from NHS Grampian and Health and Social Care Moray to discuss the campaign for a new Health Centre and Hospital in Keith.
Also attending the meeting on Friday will be representatives from Moray Council with the agenda for the discussion looking at the next steps to be taken – including the preparation of a business case as soon as possible.
The MSP will meet with Gerry Donald, Head of Property and Asset Development at NHS Grampian, Allan Robertson, Property Planning Manager at NHS Grampian, Pam Gowans the Chief Officer of Health and Social Care Moray and Richard Anderson, Moray Council’s Head of Housing and Property.
Speaking ahead of the meeting Mr Lochhead said: “Since I first met with health centre staff and the Keith Patient Participatory Group in August we have made some minor progress, with the confirmation that Keith is the top priority in Moray and that two possible sites have been identified by the health board.
“However, this still doesn’t take us to the point where NHS Grampian are at the stage of preparing a business case and clearly this is the important point we want to get to, and we want to get there as soon as possible. Only once the business case has been prepared can we then start to think about securing funding.
“There is strong support in the community for a new health centre, as the 1000 signature strong petition handed over to NHS Grampian demonstrates.
“I welcome the invitation to meet and I will certainly be taking the opportunity at this meeting to impress upon all the agencies involved to get the project to the stage where they have a business case in place as soon as possible.”