Coll launches health and care map

Coll is celebrating the creation of a new health and social care map, giving directions to the island’s needs.

The needs assessment document is the result of a year-long collaboration between a group of islanders calling themselves The Coll Collaborative Working Group (CCWG) and Argyll and Bute Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP).

Together they launched the Coll Health and Social Care Needs Assessment at a community event earlier this month.

Fiona Davies, chief officer of Argyll and Bute HSCP, who was on Coll to help launch the report, praised and thanked the CCWG and the people of Coll for their help in bringing the important piece of work together.

“As an HSCP, we recognise there are specific challenges in delivering health and social care services to remote and island communities such as Coll but we also know how vital it is the community can access services when they need them.

“This report has therefore played an important role in contributing to our understanding of the specific health and social care needs of the people of Coll. It has identified areas where our services are working well and highlighted other services where more work needs to be done,” she said.

The information in the report will help the HSCP develop and plan health and social care services for the island. Ms Davies added: “I also look forward to continuing to work with the residents, the community council and our partner organisations as we develop these services in the future.”

Coll Community Council said the time and effort spent by the collaborative group had been transformative for its community. A community council spokesperson added: “The work has been carried out in good faith and the value of genuine collaboration rather than a broad brush approach from a distance, is much appreciated.”