Ahead of a discussion in Westminster Hall, the Countryside Alliance has shared a briefing note about healthcare in the countryside.
The full briefing note can be downloaded here, and the key points have been summarised below.
- Countryside Alliance support for a forthcoming report on rural poverty by the Labour Rural Research Group and an earlier Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee inquiry into rural mental health have helped highlight barriers to effective and comprehensive healthcare provision in rural areas.
- Challenges have been found to include relatively older populations in rural areas, funding challenges, the accessibility of services in remote areas, poor connectivity and mental health challenges associated with isolation and loneliness.
- Our own mental health survey, which concluded in 2022, uncovered significant evidence of concern both about rural mental health in general and NHS provision of help to those who need it. Areas highlighted especially include the provision, visibility and funding for services in areas of sparser population.
- We identified a degree of despondency at contemporary attitudes towards rural life that numerous respondents found alien to the realities of the countryside, particularly on the part of those abused online associated with their participation in traditional rural pursuits.
- Healthcare provision must be tailored to the needs of local communities, with factors including service provision, visibility and funding taken into account. This is particularly true given the strong preference our survey uncovered for services delivered in person, as opposed to by remote technological means, which may in any case be less viable because of the rural connectivity gap.
