Dr's fears for future of Caithness General

Consultant warns community-“Your local hospital may well be at risk”

A CAITHNESS hospital consultant has sounded a warning about what he regards as the uncertain future of rural hospitals such as Caithness General and said that communities would have to fight to save them.
The alarm was sounded by Dr Tim Shallcross at Wick gala’s opening night, at the weekend.
In his parting shot - Dr Shallcross and his family are moving to Elgin – he spoke of extreme financial pressure facing health boards to reduce costs, and he feared for the Wick hospital which is classed as a rural general hospital.
Guest speaker, Dr Shallcross, couldn’t have chosen a more public platform than the coronation of gala queen Catherine-Ann Crawford, to air his “real fears” about the uncertain future of rural hospitals in general and Caithness General, in particular.
He described the hospital as being “far from perfect” but was one which the community could be proud of, and it provided a very good service.
Sustaining such units, however, was becoming more expensive than the big city hospitals to run, and Dr Shallcross continued: “I am far from convinced that there is a commitment in the health department to pay what it would take to maintain the service which would mean spending more money. There is extreme pressure to reduce costs and this will probably be packaged and sold to you as a service redesign or streamlining the service or simply making the best use of resources. It won’t be called downgrading.”
Dr Shallcross warned that the community would have to be vigilant and he referred to the community’s campaigning success in winning a reprieve for the retention of the consultant-led maternity unit at Caithness, and suggested that if local folk closed ranks and stood together, they could prove an effective force.”
He added: “I hope I am wrong, but I fear your local hospital may need your support in the near future.”
Earlier, Dr Shallcross paid tribute to the Caithness community for making his family’s 20-year stay in Caithness “very enjoyable and rewarding”.
He also paid tribute to the gala committee for overcoming their difficulties and keeping the festival going and urged his audience to “dig deep in their pockets”,