NHS Highland has approved funding for four desperately needed permanent consultant posts at Belford Hospital in Fort William.
The announcement comes amid staffing shortages and recruitment problems across the Highlands leading to some medical services being restricted.
Earlier in the year NHS Highland was criticised for failing to post job advertisements for three empty surgical positions at Belford Hospital.
Pricey locum cover for the 12 months up to March cost £162,000 more than if all three jobs were filled by permanent staff.
Despite that, efforts were made to find staff but after no appointments were made the roles were repackaged to be more attractive.
A NHS Highland spokesman said: “We have therefore undertaken a period of reflection on how we could make the posts more attractive such as attachment time in Raigmore for the surgical post and have tried to strengthen our marketing strategy such as developing a poster for this current recruitment drive.”
That meant the vacancy monitoring group had to review the proposals before the funding could be announced.
The move will see stronger links with the Raigmore surgical team to enable potential candidates to interact with peers and maintain skills for their professional development.
A fourth place for a physician has also been financed and is now being sought to join the team.
Even staff and the local community have been asked to get involved in the recruitment drive through a Lochaber information pack and urging Lochaber locals to talk about the benefits of living and working in the area.
Dr Katharine Jones, associate medical director for NHS Highland’s north and west division, said: “We know there is a national shortage of people that are able to combine specialist skills with a generalist approach required to meet the needs of the local population, and recognise the need to be flexible in our approach to recruiting and retaining staff to these roles.”
