Human rights body 'very concerned' as challenges with access to Highland healthcare highlighted

A human rights organisation has said there are challenges with access to healthcare, housing and food across the Highlands and Islands.

The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) said that many living in these areas of Scotland have expressed frustration over their human rights.

Other issues reported by residents were a lack of sexual and reproductive health services, as well as rooflessness.

In certain areas, the SHRC said sustained cuts to health services have been made with significant impacts on the local population.

The organisation says there is also a shortage of affordable homes in rural areas, including social housing.

Additionally, many people were concerned about heating, with high energy costs widely reported.

The Commission piloted an innovative new human rights monitoring model by visiting 20 communities across the region and interviewing a total of 146 people.

Professor Angela O'Hagan, chairwoman of the SHRC, said: "The commission is very concerned about the poor state of economic, social and cultural rights in the Highlands and Islands.

"Too many people in Highland and Islands are hungry, homeless, without access to healthcare, and the basics for everyday life.

"With this work, we are piloting a new way of monitoring, one that brings the Commission closer to communities and enhances their voices and struggles.

"While we continue to develop this way of working, we expect that all duty-bearers will reflect carefully on the evidence found in this report, and the action now required from them to meet their human rights obligations."

Dr Luis F Yanes, project lead and report author, added: "Economic, social and cultural rights are essential for people living a dignified life, free from fear and want.

"Many people in the Highlands and Islands feel unheard, disenfranchised, abandoned, and forgotten, with their human rights concerns discarded or minimised.

"This report enhances the voices of those living in the Highlands and Islands, demonstrating that urgent action is needed to realise these human rights for many people across the region."

In response to the report, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We recognise the rights to food, housing and health and that is why we have taken action to advance human rights in practice now, as well as to prepare the public sector for new duties in the future in relation to the rights highlighted in the report.

“We believe that no one should have to compromise on food or other essentials and have published a plan, grounded in human rights, to tackle this.

"We are taking forward nine actions to improve access to food, using a cash-first approach so that fewer people need to turn to food parcels.

“Scotland has the strongest protections across the UK nations for people experiencing homelessness and local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation for anyone facing homelessness.

"From April 2016 to March 2023, the Scottish Government has supported the delivery of more than 10,000 affordable homes across rural Scotland.

"Our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes, of which at least 70% will be for social rent and 10% in our rural and island communities, is backed up by our Rural and Islands Housing Action Plan.

“We have established a National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care to support health and social care providers to establish long-term sustainable healthcare in rural and island areas.

"The aim of the Centre is to help reduce remote, rural and island health and wellbeing inequalities through focused work on improving sustainability, capacity and capability of remote, rural and island primary care and community-based workforce and service delivery.”

Women's health services in Caithness

The report highlighted how concerns have been expressed about Caithness women having to travel to Inverness to access gynecological and maternity services.

In response, an NHS Highland spokesperson said: "We acknowledge the report and support the importance of working with and hearing from people living in our communities.

"We appreciate the unique challenges that are faced by people in remote, rural and island areas and in providing safe and effective services as close to home as possible.

"We are a listening and learning organisation and will consider the report alongside our continued community engagement as we work together to plan our services for the future.

"Safety and quality are at the forefront of all of our service planning, and we provide as many gynaecology and maternity procedures as is safe to do so in Caithness General Hospital.

"There are regular consultant clinics in Caithness and we have successfully increased the midwifery team there.

"High risk or complex cases continue to come to our District General Hospital in Inverness – this is the same for all our remote and rural areas in the Highland region.

"We plan our theatre lists to support travel for those travelling longer distances and accommodation and expenses are also provided.

"We are currently looking at developing some specialist nursing roles for Caithness to add resilience to the service, and running an endometriosis trial which will look at the care pathway for these patients.

"These are just some of the service developments that we are working with and in discussion with the North Highland Women's Wellbeing Hub group.

"We appreciate them bringing ideas, concerns and suggestions forward and as a team we work to achieve improvement."