More than 11,000 Borders residents have had to travel outside their local health board area for NHS treatment in the last five years.
The new statistics, obtained through Freedom of Information request responses, are very concerning.
The FOI response shows that 1,214 people were forced to travel outside of the Borders for heart condition treatment.
A further 625 people had to go to another health board for respiratory treatment
The number of people who are being forced to travel outside of the Borders for NHS treatment is worrying.
While some degree of travel may be necessary to access specialist services at other hospitals, it is concerning that so many people need to go elsewhere to receive necessary healthcare.
Local people in the Scottish Borders deserve the same access to the NHS that people in the rest of the country receive. Despite the best efforts of healthcare staff, these figures show that’s not happening on the SNP’s watch.
