Chunk of Highlands 'needs island-style health care'

Caithness health campaigners have called for an Orkney health care model

A large chunk of the Highland mainland should have an island-style health service, say campaigners.

Caithness Health Action Team (Chat) said its area needed Orkney's model of provision due to how far patients have to travel to access key services.

It said 90% of local pregnant women gave birth at Inverness' Raigmore Hospital - more than 100 miles away from the main Caithness towns of Wick and Thurso.

The Scottish government and NHS Highland said they were working together to provide safe and sustainable services.

Chat has long campaigned for more services to be made available locally.

It has repeated the call after severe winter weather last week closed the A9, the main route to Inverness.

But Chat chairman Ron Gunn said the trunk road could be blocked any time of the year, including by fallen trees and road accidents.

He said: "We have something like 7,000 patients a year going down as outpatients to Inverness.

"There are also dental patients who have to go down, including hundreds of young people."

Mr Gunn said among the changes wanted included having Caithness' midwife-led maternity unit supported by a consultant like Orkney's.

He said this would mean more mothers being able to have their babies closer to home.

"We have been trying to get island status for a number of years," said Mr Gunn.

"We need to try and be as self-sufficient as possible."

NHS Highland said it worked closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service which it said had established protocols in situations of adverse weather to ensure emergency transfers could take place.

A health board spokesperson said: "If road transportation is not available, as has been the case due to the recent adverse weather, patients can be transferred by air ambulance or coastguard."

NHS Highland said Caithness' midwifery unit was now fully established after it was first set up in 2017.

It said local births were an option for women who had low-risk pregnancies.

The spokesperson added: "There is no change in the current service provision as it stands and there is no external independent review at this time.

"We are, however, internally reviewing our services, the performance and improvement potential in line with the quality and safety requirements we have to work within and the resources available to us."

The Scottish government said safe care as close to home as practicable was vital.

A spokesperson said: "We recognise the concerns that adverse weather conditions can bring, and the wider challenges facing rural and island health boards.

"NHS Highland is working closely with local people and campaign groups, to develop safe, flexible and sustainable services that are accessible and best meet the needs of local people, including maternity services.”