Increased investment in Caithness ambulance cover

Increased investment to improve ambulance cover in Caithness has been announced.

The £491,000 is more than the £400,000 in extra investment originally planned for the service in the area.

The move means that from next year the Scottish Ambulance Service will be able to provide a 24 hour on-shift service every day at both Wick and Thurso.

An additional vehicle will also be on duty for 16 hours between the two stations, seven days a week.

Nine new paramedic and technician jobs are also to be created by April next year with all the staff based in Caithness.

The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) said these new posts would remove the current practice of needing to locate on-call staff on rotation at either Caithness General Hospital in Wick, or the Dunbar Hospital in Thurso.

The investment, which is being provided by SAS and NHS Highland, follows a review last year which showed an increase in inter-hospital transfers between Caithness General Hospital and Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

'Significantly enhance'

The Unite union had been raising concerns about the increase in these transfers and others in the north.

Earlier this year, its members voted to start an official dispute with SAS.

Milne Weir, SAS's northern division general manager, said the increased funding would "further improve" both patient-centred care and staff welfare in Caithness.

He said: "We have created nine additional posts and have introduced an additional ambulance to significantly enhance the cover we can provide throughout the region.

"This new model, which was agreed in partnership with staff and staff representatives, will allow us to address changing patient needs, increase resilience and remove the need for on-call working.

"We will continue to work closely with healthcare partners, staff and local communities to monitor demand and review performance to ensure we are providing a safe and effective level of cover at all times."

Michelle Johnstone, NHS Highland's north and west area manager, said: "This investment boost will improve the resilience of the health and social care service we provide in Caithness.

"Having the extra SAS staff and ambulance based in Wick or Thurso will give us an increased responsiveness that will support clinical decision making within our hospitals."