First published on 1320Radio in 2016 – author unknown
Continue reading “Born In the Back of Beyond”
RON GUNN TO CHAMPION CAITHNESS HEALTHCARE
CHAT Chair Ron Gunn is one of the main speakers in an online event organised by Scottish Rural Action, headlined “How’s your rural health?” to be held on Wednesday 24th April, 2024, talking about healthcare in “remote” areas, such as Caithness.
There will be input from other campaigners, including Neil Campbell from Skye, (Portree and Braes Community Council, and NHS SOS), and Dr Gordon Baird (Galloway Community Hospital Action Group), as well as from the public, and from practitioners in Healthcare, as well as representatives from the National Centre for Remote and Rural Healthcare.
There is a clear need to push for change – we face many challenges in areas such as ours, and it is really good to see Ron speaking up for the people of Caithness at such an event.
The discussion, which runs for 90 minutes, starts at 1200 on the 24th, and if you want to log in, you can register through Eventbrite or pop an email to christine@sra.scot for further information.
There is a Groat story about the event, so here is the link for subscribers:-
THE BATTLE CONTINUES NINE YEARS ON
There is a really moving and powerful story in the John O’Groat Journal (April 12th – 18th edition), and – once again – we are deeply grateful to our local media for continuing to highlight the current, totally unacceptable situation faced by over 90% of mothers, who are forced to undergo the torturous 210 mile plus return journey to Raigmore Hospital to have their babies.
The headline reads ‘Nine years and nothing has changed – you’re still putting your life, and your child’s, at risk’, and two young mothers speak of the shocking situations they found themselves in, with one being forced to spend two nights sleeping in a caravan in a friend’s garden, as she had been told it was too risky to return home to Caithness, and accommodation in Inverness was simply too expensive.
Another mum spoke of her waters breaking at 0430 on a Friday, and being told that Raigmore would “not have a space for her until the Saturday morning”, some 24 hours later…………..She then underwent the trip to Inverness and “spent a day going around Inverness, feeling very uncomfortable as her waters kept on breaking”, and also not being entitled to accommodation either.
CHAT Chairman Ron Gunn is quoted in the story, and makes it very clear that he wants to see the “Orkney Model” adopted in Caithness – in other words a Midwife-led unit, but backed by Consultants. Is this really too much to ask?
Ron summarises things by saying “It’s supposed to be one of the happiest times of your life – but I am afraid that’s not the current situation for mothers in Caithness and in the north.” That pretty much summarises it, but here is one simple question – how on earth have we found ourselves in this position? And another equally simply one – precisely what do the authorities intend to do about it, and when?
Are we really going to have to accept that – for evermore – the vast majority of mums in Caithness are going to have to accept that the only option is to undergo the dangerous and traumatic journey to Inverness, in pain, stressed and anxious, in all weather conditions, day and night, as well as having to deal with the unaffordable cost of accommodation in the city? Really?
For those who subscribe to the Groat, here is the link.
MSP RHODA GRANT – “WAITING LISTS SHAMEFUL”
MSP Rhoda Grant has said that “Statistics reveal that the statutory Treatment Time Guarantee, which states that no inpatient or day case patient should wait more than 12 weeks, has been broken 15,875 times in NHS Highland since it was introduced in the last quarter of 2021”.
She goes on to say that the “NHS Recovery Plan has done nothing to turn the tide, with 46,690 patients in the Highlands waiting over 12 weeks since it was published”. She also said that “Every one of these breaches is someone waiting anxiously for a medical procedure, often in pain. Many have put their lives on hold, stopped work or retired because of their condition.”
Rhoda adds that “Incredible staff across NHS Highland are going above and beyond to keep services going”, and this is indeed very true. The extraordinary dedication of our local healthcare workers is simply amazing, and it is clear that urgent action is essential to ensure that the much-needed investment is provided to support them, and to ensure that these shocking waiting figures are addressed.
CHAT will continue to campaign tirelessly to seek better for the far north.
MP JAMIE STONE CALLS FOR CAITHNESS HEALTH FUNDING TO BE RESTORED
As we all know, the long-promised funding for our Health Hubs, and upgrades to CGH, has been “paused” for “at least two years”. What “paused” means is not clear, but the words “at least” give justifiable cause for concern………….
CHAT members met with MSP Maree Todd last week to discuss this, as well as other areas of concern to the people of Caithness, and the intention is to keep highlighting the vital need for these promises to be kept.
Now, following the recent Budget statement by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, MP Jamie Stone has called on the Scottish Government to put the additional £295 million in Barnett Consequentials to good use, and to “right the wrongs” including the ” plans to stall at least a dozen NHS projects, including revamps of Caithness General Hospital and the maternity ward at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.”
Caithness desperately needs this investment – our hugely dedicated and skilled local healthcare staff, and the people of the far north, deserve upgraded facilities, more investment across the board, and recognition of the needs of “remote” areas such as ours.
CHAT IS NOW NATIONWIDE
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 IN THE NEWS
A very few years ago, it would be fair to say that Caithness was not exactly on the radar in “the corridors of power”. The county was a place which was a very long way from the centre, and known for nothing more than John O’Groats, the Castle of Mey, and not much else, other than being a handy place to build masses of windfarms, far from the sight of the politicians working in Holyrood. Cuts to vital services, the centralisation of control to Inverness and Edinburgh, and a constant erosion of the facilities required to help the community to thrive, became the norm.
Well times have changed – very much so. CHAT has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the county and to put it “on the map”, and so has CRR (Caithness Roads Recovery), along with a few other dedicated campaigners. The two groups have said what needs to be said, and have done so without fear or favour, because – with the honourable exception of some of our elected representatives – it seemed perfectly clear that the general plan was to make the odd “sympathetic” noise, but otherwise to do nothing, so it fell to us to say what needed to be said.
It does not help when attempts are made to defend the current situation. A situation which is – quite simply – indefensible, as is the tendency to try a spot of “political point scoring” in response to the expression of perfectly sensible concerns, and CHAT and CRR will continue to campaign without fear or favour, no matter what is said by those who should know better. Nor, incidentally, will we take any lectures about what we choose to post on social media – we will continue to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and if that does not go down well elsewhere, then so be it.
In the past week or so there has been headline after headline, TV and radio slots, and FB and website posts, all concerning our home county, and that is just as it should be. We can no longer be dismissed and ignored, because we are now “front-paged” across Scotland. We need to make it clear that we will no longer put up with being treated as second-class citizens. We will no longer put up with having our mums being expected to travel an insane distance to have their babies, at all hours of the day and night, and in all manner of weather conditions. We will no longer put up with the bland, meaningless responses from the very politicians who are supposed to represent us. And we will no longer put up with roads, pavements, and streets that resemble the aftermath of a war zone.
The attacks continue. The “pause” to Capital funding for NHSH – (and it will be interesting to see how they define a “pause”); the pathetic £600k for road repairs for the whole of 2024/25 (when we need about £25m); the apparent belief that the A9 is only a concern as far as Inverness, whilst we must make do with a 1950’s -standard route to and from the county, all the while being accompanied by tax rises, and the attempted imposition of policy after policy eroding, day by day, the Highland way of life.
But this is all going to change. We have some very capable people on board, we have a massive groundswell of support amongst the residents of the county, and we have the determination to succeed. And we will.
This link will take you to the recent series of articles published by The Herald Newspaper. They mention the “New Highland Clearances”, and they are right. But we will not be cleared. Caithness will not be depopulated and destroyed to make way for the giant pylons, the waving mass of wind turbines, or anything else dreamed up by what Fergus Ewing recently described – with great accuracy – as “Coffee shop pseudo intellectuals”.
Caithness Matters.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24080027.new-highland-clearances-full-list-articles/?ref=twtrec
CHAT ON BBC
Public anger in the far north continues to rise following the shattering news that – after years of being assured that we had not been forgotten – the Scottish Government has ordered NHSH to “pause” any capital projects, including the Wick and Thurso “Health Hubs” for at least two years.
CHAT has highlighted this disastrous news across the media, and BBC Highlands and Islands now have the story live on their page. Chairman Ron Gunn has made things very clear indeed……………….No amount of spin from politicians is going to alter the facts, but once again we have the worn-out soundbite from Holyrood – “The Scottish government said safe care as close to home as practicable was vital” . We know. We keep telling you so.
And in what parallel universe is a trip of over 100 miles, in labour, travelling in the middle of the night in a snowstorm, “Safe” or “Close to home”……? Answers from Scottish Ministers on a postcard please. If you look at a map, you will find a place called “Caithness” right up at the very top. We are part of Scotland………………
‘Step up to the mark or resign’ -Ron Gunn and Richard Gale
The second post today, and with very good reason. Acting in his capacity as an elected Highland Councillor, and Chair of the Highland Council’s Caithness Committee, Ron Gunn has issued an open letter, jointly with Cllr Richard Gale of Golspie, Chair of the Sutherland Committee, in which they make it quite clear that they expect MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Maree Todd, to “consider her position” as public anger rises over the “pause” to the £80 million Caithness healthcare redesign.
Ron and Richard have pointed out that in the past week Caithness was completely cut off from the south – and therefore access to the centralised Raigmore Hospital – with road and rail links closed down, and blizzard conditions affecting the whole area.
Any mother in labour, caught in these whiteout conditions, perhaps in a location where there was no mobile signal to allow her to call for help, would have been in desperate straits, and we are very fortunate indeed that no tragedies occured.
Ron and Richard also ask wonder when it was first known that the announcement was imminent………………….
The joint letter is very powerful indeed – perhaps the strongest of its type issued for many years – and it comes as a breath of fresh air to find that we have Councillors who have the courage to stand up and fight for their constituents.
In conclusion they said this:- “So, our question to Ms Todd is this. Is it not time to consider your position as MSP for this area and either step up to the mark or resign and trigger a by-election so that we can have an MSP who actually cares for Caithness and Sutherland?”
Here is the link for subscribers to the Groat:-
“A COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF PROPER RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT” – STONE
Today’s Caithness Courier features CHAT on the front page, with the headline “Anger over “pause” in health redesign plans”. No punches have been pulled, and it does not matter what excuses, or attempts to shift the blame, emanate from the usual directions, the facts are simple. The long-promised Health Hubs are “paused” and so is the work on CGH.
“Pause” is defined as “to cease or suspend an action temporarily”. So just how long will this “pause” be? Would anyone like to take a bet? And another good question – When did the Scottish Government know that this was going to happen? These things do not occur overnight. Before Christmas? Earlier? One thing is certain – there will be strong moves to try and shift the blame. And meanwhile – as usual – precisely nothing useful is going to happen in the far north.
MP Jamie Stone has weighed in very strongly and said he was “disgusted” and described the situation as “A complete breakdown of proper responsible government”.
Things are now utterly dire in Caithness, and we must all stand up and say so. Enough is enough. Time for all our politicians to forget the “party line”, call a joint crisis meeting, sit down and sort this out before it is too late. We are at a tipping point now – another cut here and there, another broken promise, and we may never be able to pull back from the brink.
Meanwhile, on page 2, MSP Maree Todd says “I fully sympathise with the concerns of expectant mothers and their families, especially during the winter months, in making the journey to Inverness”. We quite agree……………we keep saying so. May we have some action now please, as promised?
The Caithness Courier has much more, and for subscribers, here is the link:-
“THEY ARE JUST TAKING US FOR GRANTED UP HERE” – RON GUNN
In another powerful news story in the Groat today, CHAT Chairman Ron Gunn has hit out at the ongoing situation faced by Caithness Mums who are obliged to undergo the torturous 100 mile plus journey to Inverness to have their babies.
Ron said that the recent heavy snowfall, leading to closure of the A9, brings the concern into sharp focus once again – and indeed it does. The past few days have reminded us of just how dangerous it can be. Can you imagine the potential consequences of a mother in labour getting stuck in the drifting snow yesterday? The consequences do not bear thinking about.
In 2022, no less than 202 mothers (out of a total of 210 from Caithness) had to make this journey.
Ron again called for the “Orkney Model” to be introduced here in the county – quite simply a midwife-led unit backed up by consultants. And he is right.
CHAT met with the then Health Secretary, Humza Yousaf in August, 2022, and called for precisely that. The Scottish Government response, whenever the maternity question is raised, is “Safe maternity care as close to home as practicable, is vital”. We will say it again – We agree. We keep telling you that. And in what way is a journey of over 100 miles in a blizzard to give birth either “Safe” or “Close to home”? We await an answer.
Ron also said that “people from the county are being taken for granted”…………………..
The full story is in today’s Groat, and subscribers can access it by this link:-
Caithness Health Action Team 