Scottish Labour's Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson Jackie Baillie is visiting the Western Isles this week to learn more about the health challenges islanders face.
Ms Baillie will be accompanied by local Scottish Labour MP Torcuil Crichton and Scottish
Labour Na h-Eileanan an Iar candidate Donald MacKinnon for the 2026 Scottish Parliament
election as she meets patients in Barra, Uist and Stornoway as part of a three-day
listening trip.
In Barra, she will meet local health campaigners who are expected to discuss the SNP government's decision to axe a planned health campus on Barra and the long distances patients are expected to travel for treatment.
Ms Baillie will also attend a ferry crisis summit organised by South Uist Business Impact Group to show her support for locals demanding a reliable transport service and highlight the disruption ferry delays have caused to the local economy.
In Stornoway, she will participate in an NHS Listening Tour event where the public are invited to share their experiences of using the NHS.
Commenting ahead of her trip,Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour's Deputy Leader and Health Spokesperson, said: "I have heard from patients forced to make strenuous multiple trips just to get the treatment they are entitled to — a situation made even more stressful by ferry delays.
"This SNP government has neglected Scots in rural and island communities who have been let down time and again by overstretched health services and unreliable transport links.
"From traditional industries and stunning landscapes to Scotland's defence infrastructure, our island communities are the jewels in Scotland's crown.
"The Western Isles deserves a new direction — and Scottish Labour is ready to deliver it."
Torcuil Crichton, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said: "I am looking forward to hosting
Jackie Baillie as she learns more about the challenges islanders face
"Our islands punch far above their weight in what they contribute to Scotland, but they have been repeatedly let down by an SNP government too focused on the constitution and scandals in Holyrood to tackle the very real issues of health and transport.
"Next May islanders have the chance to connect to a Scottish Labour government at Holyrood just like they chose to make a direct connection to a UK government last July.
"I’ll be urging everyone to seize the opportunity and back our islands candidate, Donald MacKinnon.”
The South Uist Business Impact Group ferry crisis summit takes place on Tuesday in Daliburgh.
The NHS Listening Tour in Stornoway will take place from 1pm to 2.30pm on Wednesday in Stornoway Town Hall.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie on Western Isles ‘health listening tour’
14 April 2025
