Highlands Labour MSP backs calls to save hydrotherapy pool
The Shadow Minister for Sport and Health Inequalities has given her backing to a campaign for NHS Highland to reverse its decision to axe the Nairn hydrotherapy contract.
The privately run facility, which costs around £45,000 per year to operate, is visited by around 500 patients each month from the Highlands and Moray.
Most of the annual funding of the pool comes from NHS Highland who are to withdraw funding for patient referrals after its contract for GP referrals expired on March 31, leaving the financial position of the facility uncertain.
Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said "The benefits of hydrotherapy are well documented. It helps joint movement, muscle relaxation and helps to relieve pain and pressure for people suffering from a number of conditions such as MS, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, autism and cerebral palsy as well as helping victims of strokes or accidents and aiding pre and post-surgery patients.
"Hydrotherapy can also help people suffering with mental health problems to exercise and improve their quality of life.
"I appreciate the impossible position that NHS boards throughout Scotland are in in having to cut services due to underfunding of the service but I will be contacting NHS Highland to ask them to revisit this decision as the benefits of hydrotherapy are huge for many people.
"I am also concerned that there appears to have been a lack of consultation with the community and facility users and I will be asking NHS Highland to engage with users and their GPs before this service is cut."
