Medics in videos to attract staff

A DRIVE to recruit doctors, nurses, radiographers and consultants to Argyll – in particular Oban, Lorn and the Isles – has begun this week.

Lifestyle, innovation and a team approach are part of the attraction of moving to the West Coast for work, say the medical practitioners who appear in seven short videos to promote living and working in Argyll and the islands.

For many years NHS Highland and Argyll and Bute Council have made no secret of the number of positions that remain unfilled in health and social care.

A number of key vacancies exist on Mull, in Oban, Tay- nuilt and Lorn and throughout the community.

Sandra Melville, a pharmacist based in Oban hospital, is very clear that her role has been enhanced by the autonomy she has to do her job.

Ms Melville was instrumental in planning for and delivering the chemotherapy service alongside her colleagues in Oban. She said: ‘There is a real community spirit in the hospital. Our patients told us they wanted chemotherapy services in the hospital and, with support from the Beatson Unit, the treatment can be delivered to patients in Oban without the need for travelling to Glasgow.’

Jason Davis a consultant anaesthetist, said a view of The

Oban Times website showing the headline ‘New lollipop man for Mull’ was one of the reasons he relocated from Toronto, Canada, to Oban.

Mr Davis explains: ‘ One April or May there had been as many murders in that year than had been in the previous year and a serial rapist was hiding at the local shopping mall. My wife and I wanted to move somewhere else. We were surfing the net and found The Oban

Times website and we thought, “We’d like a bit of that”.’

Oban, Lorn and the Isles locality manager Annie Macleod said the drive to recruit staff was a community responsibility.

She said: ‘For anyone interested in coming to work here, we want you to think seriously about the job opportunities and the amazing lifestyle we can offer.’

For jobs and opportunities at NHS Highland see The

Oban Times recruitment pages, hijobs.net and www.jobs.scot. nhs.uk.