Concerns as hours cut at hospital unit
Pitlochry Minor Injury and Illness Unit (MIIU) will be closed on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
It will also be closed evenings, overnight and weekends throughout December.
This comes after NHS Tayside this week confirmed the unit will only be open from Mondays to Fridays from 9am until 4.30pm each day this month.
A spokesperson for the health board said: “Pitlochry MIIU will be open Monday to Friday between 9am and 4.30pm during December.
“The opening hours will continue throughout the festive season but the MIIU will be closed on Christmas Day, Tuesday, December 25, and Boxing Day,Wednesday, December 26.”
The spokesperson continued: “You can contact your GP between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.
“When your GP surgery is closed, and you’re too ill to wait until it reopens, you can access appropriate outof-hours services (including a nurse or GP) through NHS 24 by calling 111.
“Your local pharmacist can provide a whole range of services including free advice, support and guidance on all your health problems.
“Community pharmacies are open at convenient times on Saturdays and Sundays in many locations.”
The unit has been temporarily closed and forced to run at reduced hours a number of times over the past few months, mainly due to staffing shortages.
The move has been criticised by Cllr John Duff, who represents the Highland Perthshire ward at Perth and Kinross Council.
He said: “We have been told continually over the last six months that these closures were a temporary situation, however, we seem to be no further forward in recruiting additional nursing staff for the unit and I am unaware of any proposed date for rectifying this position.
“There is a staffing crisis in the nursing and it has Hospital The MIIU unit at Pitlochry Community
its roots in the Scottish Government’s decision to cut nursing and midwifery training place in 2011.
“Over the years, we have seen our hospitals, GP services, nursing and ambulance cover in Highland Perthshire - together with our local accident and emergency cover - significantly reduced, placing a strain on the remaining services. “This cannot be allowed to continue.” Fellow ward councillor Xander McDade also said: “The continued recruitment issues and reduced hours at Pitlochry MIIU are very concerning.
“I’ve had a number of local people tell me that the MIIU has been closed when they tried to access it, and unfortunately they’ve had to make a much longer trip to PRI instead.
“Unfortunately until the replacement nurses can be recruited for the vacant posts we’re likely to continue to see reduced opening hours for the MIIU.
“There are some major obstacles to recruitment of key workers such as nurses and teachers in the Highland Perthshire area including a lack of affordable housing and poor public transport.
“These issues combined with a national nursing shortage mean it is very difficult to recruit.
“Hopefully reduced opening hours can perhaps be targeted towards outwith GP opening hours going forward.”