4X4 DASH TO VISIT A DOCTOR
GP shortage forces journeys to Skye
NHS patients in the Highlands are being forced to travel from the mainland to Skye to see a GP because of cuts to services.
And health board bosses have asked villagers with 4x4 vehicles to volunteer to drive neighbours to the island for appointments.
NHS Highland are proposing radical changes at five remote Highland villages.
In west Highland tourist hotspots Glenelg and Arnisdale, residents will have to travel to Skye for GP appointments several days a week and out of hours.
They have also asked villagers to train as emergency first responders.
Alastair Holgate, 65, retired to Glenelg from Largs in Ayrshire – partly because the Highland village had a GP service. He said: “We’re very concerned. Our doctor will now do three 10-hour shifts and no longer out of hours.
“If we need to see a doctor on another day, we’ll have to travel to Broadford on Skye and go there for out of hours, too. It’s about a 30-mile trip and can take an hour to drive there. In winter, the Mam Ratagan Pass is often blocked with snow so there is no way to get out of the village to get to Skye.”
Local SNP MSP Kate Forbes said: “With any changes of this magnitude, you’ve got to take the community with you – you can’t just impose changes.”
An NHS Highland spokesman said they were “sympathetic” to residents’ concerns but added: “It is clear the model of having a doctor in the village 24/7 is neither sustainable nor desirable.”
Dr Miles Mack, Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland chairman, said: “Even before the creation of the NHS, GPs have been a crucial part of healthcare in rural areas. This must continue.”