Strongman Luke Stoltman believes his dad is being let down by his local GP practice in Invergordon.
The international competitor shared a video on his Facebook page claiming that after waiting five years for the treatment for his dad’s sciatica – the pain has now changed and is “worryingly” now under his rib cage.
In light of his mum’s “misdiagnosis” of cancer – he wanted to raise awareness of the community’s concern on a public forum.
NHS Highland has encouraged the family to contact them to discuss the case in more detail.
‘We need to speak out for other people’
Since airing his concerns on Monday night – Mr Stoltman said hundreds of people had been in touch with him to raise their concerns about the local GP practice.
Mr Stoltman, the current title holder of Europe’s Strongest Man, said: “It was regrettable that I had to take to Facebook to share our family story.
“But more people are now speaking out about their concerns now. We know that something needs to be done.
“We can afford to go privately for dad – but what about all those people who can’t afford the same? We need to speak up for those people too.”
The six-time winner of Scotland’s Strongest Man said that after taking the decision to seek private healthcare for his father, Bernard, in January, a letter had to be signed by his GP to allow the procedure to take place.
Mr Stoltman had to sit in the GP waiting room to get answers
After asking half a dozen times for the permission letter to be signed correctly it wasn’t until some months later – in April – that he finally got the proper paperwork.
The 37-year-old said: “I had to go down and sit and wait in the surgery for it to be done. This is about my dad not getting the proper care he needs.
“We had a family movie night last weekend, and when we were at my dad’s house he was in so much pain we phoned 111 the non-emergency healthcare number.
“They sent an ambulance and took him to Raigmore. My dad was given morphine for the pain. They did some tests and discharged us.”
His dad had rated the pain to paramedics as top of the scale at a “10”.
‘It is frankly absurd’
Mr Stoltman added: “We are doing our bit for Invergordon, we are out there in the world saying what a beautiful and amazing Highland town it is – and then we have this. Something is not right.”
The strongman says the problems the family have faced with his father’s care are similar to those his mother had.
Mrs Stoltman died in 2016 after a cancer battle following a “misdiagnosis”.
He continued: “And we all still suffer from the grief and pain of that. We do not want that to happen to our dad.
‘I am just a nuisance’
“We have World’s Strongest Man coming up in May, and dad said ‘I am not going to be coming, I am just a nuisance’. That breaks me.”
The Press & Journal approached NHS Highland for a comment in regard to concerns surrounding the Alness and Invergordon Medical Group.
A spokesman said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases. We are sorry that the family feel the level of care they have received is not what they would have expected.
“We would encourage the family to get in touch with us so we can discuss their case in more detail.”