LISTEN: 'Rural residents missing out on hospital appointments because they can't get there' says Highland MSP
Are patients in Sutherland falling foul to a postcode lottery when it comes to transport arrangements for hospital appointments?
Are patients in Sutherland falling foul to a postcode lottery when it comes to transport arrangements for hospital appointments?
Highland MSP Rhoda Grant says yes:
She's been helping a number of constituents in North and West Sutherland who claim they've been forced to miss vital medical check-ups simply because they can’t get there.
Ms Grant, who represents the Highlands and Islands, met with SAS in February this year after receiving complaints about the service in the area. She wrote to them again in March after receiving reports that a woman in her 80s had spent £100 on a taxi to a hospital appointment as she had no car and there was no public transport.
This week she received a letter about problems with the service in North and West Sutherland following a meeting held at the request of Assynt Community Council with representatives of SAS in Lochinver on 9th May.
Ms Grant's calling on the Scottish Ambulance Service to review the problem.
Mrs Madeline Macphail, from Assynt, wrote to Mrs Grant about the Assynt Community Council meeting.
She explained that it was not only elderly people affected but younger people without access to a car.
“Living in North and West Sutherland, we need services to be reliable. We have no public transport system flexible or regular enough to take us to and from hospital appointments.
“Sometimes we are not fit enough to drive there and back. Most of us want to live in our own homes as long as possible with dignity and independence.
“We are not asking for special treatment, only a reliable service which gives us the same rights as people living in more populated areas.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: "The Patient Transport Service provides transport to and from planned hospital appointments for people who have a medical or mobility need for transport, undertaking over 62,000 patient journeys a year in the Highlands.
"We recognise that lack of appropriate public transport can prove challenging in some areas and have met with community representatives to discuss their needs and concerns.
"We will include them, along with a number of agencies, in a new working group that will examine alternative solutions to improve their transport options.”