| OOH: Locals Told: ‘Look to The Highlands’
The community campaigners for the reinstatement of out-of-hours GP cover have been urged to look to the example of the remote area of Applecross in the West Highlands as a model that they can follow. That was the message given to residents in Kinloch Rannoch by Mary Scanlon, MSP for Highlands and Islands and Scottish Conservatives Spokeswoman on Health.
Mary Scanlon was speaking at the public meeting organised by Murdo Fraser MSP and Highland Perthshire Councillor Ian Campbell in response to concerns from the community about the lack of out-of-hours cover from NHS Tayside.
Mary Scanlon spoke of her experience of access to healthcare in the Highlands, where some remote and rural communities have retained out-of-hours GP cover due to their geography and there being no safe and reliable alternative.
She highlighted to the meeting the situation of the community in Applecross in Wester Ross, where NHS Highland had struggled to recruit a doctor to serve the area and provide out-of-hours cover. The local community took the matter into their own hands and advertised the vacancy themselves and were successful in filling the vacancy with a doctor who now provides the necessary cover.
At the end of the meeting, the politicians promised to pursue matters further with NHS Tayside and the Cabinet Secretary for Health Nicola Sturgeon MSP as well as with NHS 24 and the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Commenting after the meeting, Murdo Fraser said: “I am grateful to Mary Scanlon for coming to Kinloch Rannoch to meet local residents and hear their concerns. In the past I have extended an invitation to Nicola Sturgeon to come to the area, but regrettably she has so far declined to do so.
“I hope that Mary’s experience of health in the Highlands will be valuable in giving give some pointers about how the current unacceptable situation in Kinloch Rannoch can be improved.
Clear Message
“Mary, Ian Campbell and I certainly received a very clear message from the meeting that the local community intends to continue fighting until they see a safe system of 24-hour medical cover for this remote area put into place.”
Councillor Highland Perthshire Ian Campbell added: “I would like to thank Mary Scanlon on behalf of the local community for visiting Kinloch Rannoch and listening to all the points that were made by residents.
“It was clear at the meeting that Mary is keen to help us achieve our aims of restoring a health service that is adequate for Kinloch Rannoch.”
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