There has been a 52% increase in patient transfers from Caithness General to other hospitals in the past five years, according to the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The numbers were obtained by Labour MSP Rhoda Grant, in answer to a question she lodged with ambulance chiefs last December.
In 2012-13, there were 431 hospital transfers, mostly to Raigmore in Inverness.
Subsequent annual figures were 496, 542 and 616 in 2015-16. The projection for 2016-2017 is 656 transfers.
Mrs Grant was frustrated that the service was unable to publish the figures sooner – or statistics specifically for maternity transfers.
She said she was told the data was “not held within” its management system and could not be given within the timescale of her request.
“It’s interesting that Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has just announced a £400,000 investment with NHS Highland to increase ambulance provision in Caithness,” she said. “The figures speak for themselves and show how much strain ambulance staff are feeling in the far north.
“The service did apologise that my original letter ‘did not reach them’.
“I fear that investment in remote and rural areas is not being considered by the Scottish Government’s ever increasing centralised health service.
“While I welcome additional investment, I’m left wondering if this will come anywhere close to meeting demand.”
A spokesman for the SAS said: “We recognise a growing number of patients with specialist care needs require transport from Caithness to Raigmore which is why we recently announced the £400,000 investment.
“This additional funding will help us ensure local people can access specialist care in Raigmore in a timely manner while maintaining an appropriate level of ambulance cover in Caithness.”
Kirsteen Campbell, vice chairwoman of pressure group the Caithness Health Action Team, questioned whether £400,000 was sufficient.
She said: “It’s still a worry. The road is much busier because of the NorthCoast 500 promotion. Could there be more accidents? We had the snow-gates shut twice in January. And each transfer costs over £2,000.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said the £400,000 complemented wider investment across the north “in response to changing patient needs and access to more specialist health service delivery.”
