A pensioner living in a remote part of Sutherland was told she would have to find her own way to Inverness for a hospital appointment – because she wasn’t unwell enough.
Mary Martin, 70, is due to travel the long journey to Raigmore Hospital from her home in Tongue this week to see a specialist about an unexplained chest condition which has plagued her for several months.
But when she applied for transport from the ambulance service she was told to make her own travel plans for getting to hospital because she didn’t meet medical criteria.
Mrs Martin, who does not drive, was left considering the possibility of an £80 taxi journey to Wick or making use of a community travel scheme to reach Lairg in order to catch a train to Inverness.
She said she had even considering canceling her appointment with the chest and lung consultant because of the transport fears.
But the problem has been averted after The Press and Journal brought Mrs Martin’s plight to the attention of the ambulance service.
She has now been promised a patient transfer car to complete the 180-mile round trip after the service apologised about a “misunderstanding” of her situation.
Provision is made to carry patients on a geographical basis in remote areas of the north, as long as it does not take up capacity reserved for patients with serious medical need.
Mrs Martin said last night: “I’m glad that they changed their mind and I’m grateful to the paper for helping with that.
“It shouldn’t take the newspaper getting in touch to make them see sense. People who live in places like Tongue are entitled to treatment the same as everyone else. Public transport is diabolical so its very difficult to make your own way anywhere without a lot of planning.”
She added: “Their way of working out if I needed a car was to ask if I could walk out of my house unaided and if I need oxygen.
“Because I said I could get out the house they said I couldn’t have any transport. I understand there are limits to what they can provide but I was shocked that they dismissed me out of hand like that.”
Councillor Linda Munro, who represents North, West and Central Sutherland, said many of her constituents face “nightmare scenarios” when planning travel for hospital care.
She said: “It’s a huge concern for me. There is no public transport to fall back on so it puts people in impossible situations if they can’t get transport.
“The north-west has the highest demographic for people over 70 in the whole country so asking a neighbour for a lift is often out the question and there is a lot of people needing hospital treatment.”
She added: “Every part of the Highlands face their own challenges but the north-west faces every challenge.
“I would go so far as to say it is now an equalities issue.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said that patients not deemed eligible would be able to reclaim some of their travel expenses from NHS Highland.
He added: “In the IV27 4 area there is limited alternative transport provision, therefore we continue to make available limited provision to carry patients based on geographical need rather than medical need, as long as it does not take up capacity reserved for patients with medical need.
“In this instance the patient’s request should have been accepted on that basis and we have contacted her to apologise for the misunderstanding and arrange her transport.”