NHS in crisis... so do our doctors REALLY need Gaelic lessons?

DOCTORS and nurses who do not speak Gaelic could be barred from working in the NHS, according to proposals from health chiefs.

NHS Highland managers have demanded that Gaelic be classed as an ‘essential’ skill for some staff in an attempt to shore up the ‘extremely fragile’ language.

Medics are also set to be given health service-funded Gaelic lessons as the NHS imposes a quota for the number of consultations conducted in the language.

Last night, campaigners said the measures to help ‘safeguard the long-term future of Gaelic’ would

‘Strengthening the labour market’

add to the pressures on an already overstretched NHS.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘NHS managers should focus on improving essential services as opposed to cultural enrichment programmes.’

The policies are set out by NHS Highland – which must save £100 million in three years – in its 21-page Gaelic Language Plan, which it produces under the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005.

Of the 320,000 people who live in the NHS Highland area, about 15,500 speak Gaelic.

The plan said a ‘concerted effort’ was needed to revitalise Gaelic. One of the most controversial recommendations suggests that, in some parts of the Highlands, the language should be regarded as essential for employees, which means vacancies should only be filled by Gaelic speakers.

It said: ‘Recruitment policy recognises Gaelic as an essential or desirable skill in key geographical areas where 20 per cent or more speak Gaelic.’

The plan also said: ‘NHS Highland aims to play its part in strengthening the Gaelic labour market by training, valuing, advertising for and recruiting staff with Gaelic skills.’ At present the NHS Scotland recruitment website lists vacancies for 131 different roles in NHS Highland, many in remote and rural areas where difficulties in hiring staff are most acute.

Another suggestion in the NHS Highland plan is that staff should be taught Gaelic by their employer, with the NHS contacting workers who want to learn or improve their skills to ‘agree some tailored learning and support’.

But Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘Some of these proposals go too far and are verging on the ludicrous.’

The Royal College of Nursing and the British Medical Association declined to comment, stating that their members had not yet formulated a policy on Gaelic.

A spokesman for NHS Highland said the Gaelic plan was only at its draft stages, but added: ‘Our staff survey clearly showed there was both enthusiasm and a need to allow us to improve patient care by being able to communicate with patients and families in Gaelic if that was their choice.

‘Young children and people with dementia are two priority areas where we believe it will help care.’