A petition has been launched calling on the Scottish Government to ensure Aberdeen’s promised life-saving trauma centre is not ditched in favour of the central belt.
The Granite City was one of four areas which were promised a state-of-the-art facility in 2014 – but ministers have since cast doubt on whether it will be built.
More than 50 NHS Grampian doctors recently warned that, if the centre is not created, the north-east would be left with a “second-class service” putting life-saving treatment “in jeopardy”.
Labour’s Aberdeen Central candidate Lewis Macdonald has now started a petition “to guarantee that the ARI will remain at the cutting edge of modern medicine”.
He said: “We have heard from doctors at ARI, who couldn’t have been clearer about their concerns if Aberdeen misses out on becoming one of Scotland’s major trauma centres.
“This petition will give the people of Aberdeen and the north-east the chance to have their say on the issue.
“The public will be concerned about the consequences if ARI is not chosen as one of the major trauma centres, and it is only right their opinions are considered too.”
In the open letter, consultant surgeon Simon Barker said doctors were “deeply worried” that building the trauma centres only in Edinburgh and Glasgow “will leave the rest of Scotland out in the cold”.
He added: “The plans for two centres in Edinburgh and Glasgow appear to leave 25% of the Scottish population, including the people of Grampian, with a second-class service.
“Our resources and ability to recruit staff to care properly for seriously-injured patients will be in jeopardy.”
Health Secretary Shona Robison has previously insisted “no final decisions about the number of trauma centres have been made” and that “all options remain on the table”.
Last week, the Press and Journal exclusively revealed that ministers chose not to wait for the outcome of a study assessing the need for four trauma centres in Scotland before committing to building one in the Granite City by the end of this year.
Former Health Secretary Alex Neil announced the plan to build the four centres, to treat people with serious injuries after accidents like car crashes or falls, in 2014.