The Stewartry’s two hospitals haven’t been inspected for more than a decade.
According to data from the Scottish Conservatives the facilities in Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright haven’t been visited by inspectors since Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) was established in 2011.
And only two of Dumfries and Galloway’s 10 hospitals have received a visit since 2020.
The Tories claim that 36 of the country’s 125 hospitals hadn’t been inspected since HIS was formed, with a further 29 not receiving an inspection in the past five years.
The party’s health spokesman, Dr Sandesh Gulhane, believes rural areas have been “disproportionately affected”.
He said: “Those living in rural areas already face too many barriers to accessing healthcare.
“They should be able to take comfort in knowing that, when they do access it, they are receiving the best care at their local hospital. That goes for all patients across Scotland.
“At a time when our NHS is overwhelmed and hardworking frontline staff are under immense pressure, it is shocking that basic inspections aren’t being carried out to measure how they are coping.
“For too long NHS patients have suffered at the hands of the SNP’s dire workforce planning and mismanagement of our health service. It appears that under-resourcing extends to inspections too.” The Tory analysis claims that Castle Douglas Hospital hasn’t been inspected since HIS was formed.
The same applies to the hospitals in Kirkcudbright and Newton Stewart, which have been closed since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
DGRI was inspected this year and Lochmaben Hospital in 2020. The other five were visited in 2019.
A spokesperson for Healthcare Improvement Scotland said: “Our programme of NHS hospital inspections is focused on assuring the safe delivery of care. Taking account of changing risks and service pressures since the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been adapting our inspection process to continue to provide robust public assurance that is reflective of, and responsive to, the service pressures currently faced by the NHS.
“Our approach remains focused on helping services identify and minimise risk to support patient safety and continuous improvement.
“We have an established inspection prioritisation procedure in place, which helps us to target inspection resources to best effect. The process for prioritising inspections is regularly refreshed and includes analysis of a range of available data and intelligence to identify issues and adapt our inspection focus accordingly.”
A Scottish Government spokesman added: “HIS make unannounced inspections and it is for the organisation to decide which facilities to visit and how frequently.
“There are 44 acute hospital sites in Scotland which HIS prioritises with an aim of inspecting each of them every three years.”
