Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross wants to see a ban on GP closures, and the potential reversal of decisions to shut health centres after community anger across the north and north-east.
The call is likely to tap into public anger at the loss of community facilities like in Burghead and Hopeman, in his Moray region.
Residents there now have to travel to Lossiemouth for appointments.
Campaigners continue to push for improved healthcare in the two coastal communities.
Across the country, Scotland lost nearly 90 GP surgeries in the past decade, while nearly one in 10 closed their lists to new patients.
In Aberdeen, Rosemount Medical Group closed in 2019 due to a lack of GPs and Carden Medical Centre announced its closure at the end of 2021.
Practices across the north-east – including in Braemar – have also handed back their contracts to the NHS in recent months after struggling to recruit doctors.
‘Damning indictment’
Mr Ross described GP closures as a “damning indictment” of “atrocious” NHS workforce planning under the SNP.
He said: “Patients in areas such as Burghead and Hopeman have had to deal with the impact of losing their medical practices due to failures in the recruitment and crucially, the retention of staff, in Moray.
“GPs and nurses are absolutely exhausted and are leaving in their droves because they have no confidence in Humza Yousaf’s failing plan to improve health provision in rural parts of Scotland.
“The SNP’s push to centralise our NHS is forcing patients, especially in rural areas, to travel further for essential treatments.”
The Tory leader will make the call to ban the closure of any local health services during a speech in Edinburgh on Friday about the challenges the NHS faces.
A key part of the plan will propose writing in statute that a facility cannot be shut down without a replacement building being in place.
Mr Ross said: “We would also review local facilities that have previously closed, such as Burghead and Hopeman, to see if reopening them is feasible.”
Who will pay for it?
But it raises questions over how the policy to reopen closed surgeries would be funded.
The party says services will be reviewed to see where they can be reopened at “good value for money” but also considering “blank spots” for services.
It also states it will take pressures off the NHS by focusing on prevention and tackling preventative illnesses and reinventing the “large savings” back into the NHS.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government is fully committed to increasing the number of GPs in Scotland. There are currently just over 1,200 trainee GPs coming through the training system in Scotland. 35 additional GP training posts were created last year and another 35 will be added in 2024 as part of a record annual expansion.
“Health boards and health & social care partnerships are responsible for the planning and delivery of primary medical services in their areas based on the needs of their patients and the best delivery models for services as these change over time.
“We are investing over £1.2 billion in general medical services in 2023-24 including £190 million on the multi-disciplinary team workforce to support GPs and practice teams, ensuring more people get the right care in the right place at the right time.”
Conversation