Life on Skye before the NHS
Broadford care home resident Catherine Matheson, 91, remembers what healthcare on Skye was like before the National Health Service was formed 70 years ago.
As the healthcare service celebrates its 70th birthday this year, An Acarsaid resident Catherine – or Katie as she is better known – remembers when the service first came to the island.
‘The family were delighted when the NHS started as we no longer had to pay and we got better care,’ she said.
Before the NHS came into being on July 5, 1948, healthcare could be an expensive drain on the family budget.
Katie, originally from Waternish, said: ‘It cost my family four shillings every time they had to get the doctor to call. Luckily my father was very friendly with the doctor, so I don’t think we paid him for every visit.’
Which was a great help, as Katie explained: ‘I had asthma, so saw the doctor every three weeks or so as a child.’
Travelling around Skye was more difficult back then. She said: ‘The doctor had a car, but the nurse had to go on her rounds on a bicycle. Eventually, though, she got a motorbike.’ And times could be very tough before the NHS was set up, although the community pulled together to help.
She said: ‘There was a person we called the Inspector of the Poor who would come round to see if you were well or not.
‘They could issue food vouchers if we needed them. We didn’t have to pay for this.
‘And it was the women of the village who would help if someone had a baby. It was only after the NHS began that we started seeing the midwives coming round.’