preserving healthcare

Securing future of rural hospitals

Published:

THE impact on patient care and the potential hazards of travelling long distances for hospital care have been well documented. Health services, like post offices, petrol stations and community centres, are a vital part of the social infrastructure of rural Scotland, nowhere more so than in the Highlands.

Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement today on a new package of measures to improve the treatment available and secure the long-term future of six rural hospitals is to be welcomed.

As well as extending the traditional services like maternity cover, initial treatment for broken bones and routine and emergency surgery, some innovative thinking has gone into how best these facilities can be used.

The skills of health workers are to be improved, including creating “hybrid” GPs with specialist training. Money is also to be spent on providing more diagnostic tests locally.

It is, perhaps, the uncertainty over rural health facilities that has held back development in the past. Why would committed GPs and nurses invest time in training to provide a better service if the prospect of units closing was never far away?

The Scottish Government appears committed to preserving and enhancing rural healthcare. After the Highlands project is up and running, other areas must follow.

Now, ministers and health administrators will have to work hard to ensure that the best-quality staff are recruited or encouraged to stay in the Highlands to deliver their promises.