CHAT Chairman Ron Gunn always speaks up for the county, and he does so in a professional, and respectful, but determined manner, and never more so than on Monday of this week, when he went out live on Good Morning Scotland, the BBC radio programme which covers the whole of the country.
Ron was speaking about the “pause” to NHS capital funding, which has resulted in the delay “for at least two years” in the provision of the money required to progress the long-promised, but yet to materialise, “Health Hubs” in Wick and Thurso. As Ron said, this disastrous announcement by the Scottish Government also means that the upgrades to Caithness General Hospital will not now go ahead, and there will be serious delays to the planned replacement for the Belford hospital in Fort William.
Ron’s interview was picked up by numerous other media outlets, and the emails rapidly started to appear in the CHAT inbox. Ron ended up on the air several times that day, in each case making clear the case for Caithness, with the result that the situation was reported across Scotland. He also made it clear – quite rightly – that he does not blame NHSH for this latest issue, which is entirely down to the “pause” in funding from Scotgov. And what does “pause” mean? “At least two years”? Longer? Five years perhaps, by which time there will be a new government in place? And what will they do, whoever happens to be in power?
There is now huge media interest in what is happening in Caithness, and it is vital that we keep up the pressure to make sure that we are no longer “The Forgotten County”. you can rest assured that CHAT, CRR, and the other dedicated groups across our county will make very sure that we are not forgotten…………..
Here is a link to one of Ron’s interviews with BBC Scotland.
Caithness Matters.
Caithness Health Action Team 