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Swinney suggests Scots will not travel further for health care under reforms
Swinney wants to reduce the number of hospital boards to two
Scots should not have to travel further for health care under the government's plans to cut the number of health boards from 14 to two, John Swinney has suggested.
The BBC asked the first minister about the impact of such changes for people who are already travelling long distances - such as women living in the far north who have to travel 100 miles down the A9 to give birth in Inverness.
Swinney said it would "not be my intention" for people to travel further, with initial modelling showing the country divided into two east and west health boards.
He also said he could not put a "specific figure" on NHS job losses, but he had been "open about the fact that public sector employment will fall".
Swinney suggests Scots will not travel further for health care under reforms
Speaking to BBC Scotland's The Sunday Show, Swinney said he wanted to maximise the number of health care services delivered locally as long as it was done safely.
This is so that there is "equity of access" regardless of where people live, he said.
Swinney added: "The example in Caithness is an issue about the delivery of maternity services in Caithness. And that's driven not by efficiencies, it's not by costs, it's delivered by the question of patient safety.
"What I want to make sure is that by removing health board boundaries we can maximise the number of local services that can be provided as close to home as possible for individuals in different parts of the country."