Surgical Services At Caithness General Under Pressure

NHS Highland says it's working "with urgency" to ensure the future of surgical services at Caithness General. A meeting's been held at the hospital amid a staffing crisis there. And it stressed that it was determined that more and not less planned surgery would take place at the Wick hospital. Earlier this week, NHS Highland chair Gary Coutts, along with senior managers and clinicians, met some local MSPs and councillors in Wick Town Hall to discuss the way forward. At the informal business meeting, which was called by Caithness and Sutherland councillors, it was explained that proposals to put out-of-hours surgery at Caithness General on hold had been shelved. However, NHS Highland representatives stressed that continuing to function by relying heavily on locum surgeons was neither safe nor sustainable and work was under way to look at options for a new model. There is also a need to look at the best options for covering A&E in Caithness. Mr Coutts explained at Tuesday’s meeting that the proposed contingency measure of temporarily transferring out-of-hours surgical services from Caithness to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness while a new model was put in place was found to be unworkable at this stage. But he added: "I also explained at what was a very constructive meeting that the situation at Caithness General remains fragile, with some safety concerns. "That is why we are working with urgency to find a way forward." He added that if any changes were deemed to be major NHS Highland would formally consult on them with all concerned. Area leader Cllr Deirdre MacKay, who chaired the meeting in Wick, said:

"Key to the future is the fact that Caithness General is a significant asset for the health board across Highland. "Raigmore is at capacity and requires Caithness General to support need across the whole area. "We heard from Mr Coggins, the clinical director for surgery, that it is vital that Caithness General is networked with Raigmore and, significantly, that posts will now have a Highland-wide remit. "What is clear is that we need to look at what modern practice can deliver and not fear losing what clearly isn’t working. "Serious decisions require to be made about how we run our NHS but with this come real opportunities to develop a quality service across both the hospital and community-based services." Raigmore’s interim director of operations, Linda Kirkland, told the meeting that going into the near future the Inverness hospital would not have enough theatre capacity are there was a need to develop Caithness General more fully. To that end, NHS Highland was now looking at transferring some elective surgical services from Raigmore to Wick. She added: "This has always been an aspiration, but the current challenges give us an opportunity to make it happen." Taking a more Highland-wide view of surgical services also meant that the board was now recruiting to pan-Highland posts, rather than posts specific to individual hospitals, to ensure greater flexibility. Councillor Gail Ross added: "I am excited and optimistic about the prospects of developing a first-class new system to serve not only Caithness and Sutherland but all Highland. "There will be no immediate changes but I agree that changes are necessary and we now need to get on and make that happen with some urgency."