used Wick and Thurso hospitals and is certainly a staffing problem because of where we are on the map, on the other hand have a word with your local MSP ask why the underspend of £440 MILLION plus a ridiculous amount spent on jollies.
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used Wick and Thurso hospitals and is certainly a staffing problem because of where we are on the map, on the other hand have a word with your local MSP ask why the underspend of £440 MILLION plus a ridiculous amount spent on jollies.
For those who maybe interested, Highland NHS to be grilled by Scottish Parliamentary Audit Committee. Open to the public in Inverness
http://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/...t-23012015.htm
GRILLED? I 'd opt for burning !
I would suspect if the truth was hidden in the past there wont be a sudden attack of conscience nor an outpouring of secrets to the Parliamentary Committee. I would reckon there will be lots of SMA statements.....Save My Ass.
Ah well Fridays meeting was shall we say enlightening........NOT. We are making a plan but we dont know what that plan is clear as mud.
We will recruit
We will make CGH a centre of excellence
Ah well lets wait and see.
I am still wondering why the screen was set up sideways and there was no microphones so speakers could be heard over the noise of the heater at the back of the hall.
Judging by the parking situation I thought it was going to be a full house, or standing room only, but turned out there were two other groups who meet in the Pentland on a Friday there before us.
Managed a wee bit of networking so my time was not wasted.................not holding my breath for the outcome.
Given that yesterdays meeting provided no clear answers from Elaine or Gary I would suggest not holdong your breath. If there was no plan B for the financial crisis what makes you think theres any coherent plan for Caithness General...
A TV company are soon to film an item in Caithness about problems in the health service.
They would like to hear from individuals who feel that their own or relatives lives or health would have been seriously jeopardised if there had not been out of hours services available at the hospital.
Ideally they will probably want to interview people about their circumstances or health incident that saved their lives at the hospital and how it might have been if no service was available at the time.
The programme may cover other problems in health services in the county.
Anyone who would like to pass on information or speak to the TV reporter can contact me by pm, email - bill@caithness.org or phone 01955 609343.
I hope as many people give their opinions and stories as possible. Its awful how lately the bad news just keeps on coming.
Has anyone spotted the Inverness Courier article today?
http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/N...e-19022015.htm
I spotted it and I believe most of what is stated. I would however say that when Caithness General was run as part of the Caithness North Sutherland Trust I was always led to believe it managed to balance its books so the dig at rural hospitals may just be sour grapes as Inverness Consultants may be pulled up here to cover.
100% agree with you Alice.
I'm disappointed with Ken Macdonald's statement. Surely he should be saying that he takes the criticisms seriously and will be sitting down with the Consultants and seeing how they can improve matters. But no..... the brick wall goes up. Brilliant management!!!!!
And there exactly is NHS highlands biggest problem they don't take criticism seriously, brushed under the carpet head up high and keep digging the hole. For years doctors, consultants, nurses and staff from all areas have been telling management they're getting it wrong but alas they have a GOD like attitude and a stubbornness or should we say a sheer arrogance to just keep plodding on or should I say limping. If this was the private sector they would be out of a job by now.
Having read through the Consultant's statement again I find much of what he has written is spot on.. The one thing I would question are his 'musings' about the rural hospitals. I would like to hear more of an explanation of his thinking there. Knowing Ken Macdonald, as I do, I am afraid it is absolutely typical of him that he should call the Consultant's statement a ridiculous rant. When the Consultant reads that his words have been interpreted in this way then he will, by association, believe that his own Medical Director is calling him, a Senior Consultant, ridiculous. What will that do for morale? Will we see another Consultant resignation? I am afraid Ken Macdonald has, through his own words, confirmed as correct the Consultant's claims about bullying etc by management. Well done Ken! It is about time NHS Highland began respecting their staff from top to bottom but I'm not holding my breath.
Welcome Janeyj.
I remember many moons ago when the RNI in Inverness was a centre of surgical excellence. We had a matron who was seen about the hospital at different times of the day, always with a beady eye on the whole picture. On her rounds she noted paint scuffs, damage to fittings, lights not working etc., and her list went in a communications diary. Usually whatever she had seen on Monday was sorted by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest. Some of the wards had jam jars of paint and brushes ready to touch up scuffs as we saw them as we were proud of our surroundings and wanted to be the very best.
Sister on ENT ward had a thing about domestic staff not being seen by the consultant when he was on his rounds to the extent that they were shut in the store cupboard. One day Mr Anderson (sadly long gone) spotted what was happening and made the remark to sister that without her team of nurses and domestic staff she would not have wards suitable to nurse his patients and he would not have a sterile operating theatre to work in.
Yes, there would have been a board of management to whom Matron and Mr Anderson would have reported and somebody supervising the pot of money, but what strikes me about the NHS nowadays is that there are too many closed doors with names of management on them and not enough effort going into appreciating the front line staff.
To be honest, if the level of care is better in Inverness or further south, why not accept that CGH will return to the pre 1987 levels of being a cottage hospital.
Absolutely not why should NHS services in Caithness be going backwards instead of forwards. As a county we are entitled to have investment in our Health Service Provision why should management get away with making a complete balls up of services as lets face it that's what they've done Why should we accept a second class service. Certain services provided for in Inverness yes however there are many services which can and should be delivered right on our doorstep we are not a county of backward people so why should we be given a backward moving service !
Apart from the fact that so many beds in Raigmore have also disappeared over the years not only will you be taking your own pillow youll be taking your ownbed down with you. Raigmore in itself cannot cope with a sudden influx of extra work from the rural general hospitals, I'm calling Caithness that as management have already stated they don't recognise the term cottage hospital but given they dont recognise how to carry out a proper intensive recruitment campaign nuff said I reckon.
Some of the best doctors and nurses I have known have been partly trained in Caithness, some of them made the choice to return until their position was untennable.
What about unseen circumstances due to weather ...Winter 2009/10 is in my mind ....was going to have to go to Inverness to have my youngest due to preg complications. but had him in Wick as there was no time for the air ambulance to be arranged(he was born in 20 mins from outset of labour).....no road ambulances running due to the road conditions ...what if a RTA happened in those conditions? slice n dice n sewn up so patched up enough to travel to Inverness and the transport cannot safely do the trip due to weather conditions ...huge farming community up here and accidents are thankfully rare but when they happen they are at the more serious end of the scale ...crush injuries etc or bog standard re attachement of fingers etc(complicated surgery to get full movement) with complications of dirty farm equipment to deal with....never within "office hours" as no one works 9-5 these days .
Then there is Dounreay and contam issues if something goes really wrong ...unlikely but could happen and if it did it would prob be in silent hours so less staff involved ...big probs for CGH and an injured person would overload them.
So the director of surgery now says we dont need 24hr surgical cover........why then over the last umpteen years have NHS Highland been wasting such valuable resources by employing surgeons to cover twenty four hours eh ? Why have NHS Highland only NOW starting announcing this ? Why do we as an area feel we are being treated like mushrooms....kept in the dark and fed nothing but sh&t ??
You can roll out as many senior Inverness based monkeys as you want until the organ grinder starts addressing the issues prior to the proverbial hitting the fan then some folk might start to have a little more faith in NHS Highland management....
Oh by the way have you ever released yet how intensive the recruitment campaign for CGH truly was I have a good few years BMJs in front of me and there doesnt seem to be much for Caithness in them. Hmmm must have invested all your money on the bus signs in Liverpool yes really good one doctors down there being inticed to an area where the boss says wee don't really need you 24/7......nuff said
From what I am seeing reported in the press and other media sources those in charge of NHS Highland need lessons in basic skills for running things. We are being given excuse followed by more excuses and policies that are costly and inefficient.
I am beginning to think that all NHS executives should be given a basic grounding in economics, customer care and honesty and that those who can't step up to the task should be dismissed with no pay offs, for too long there has been the ethos that as an essential service there will always be money to bail it out.
well just the other month there wee had to take my boy down he is just 7 months old, wee got down there fine but on the way back it was -5 just after helmsdale wee were going down hill i was doing about 30 down the hill, well wee hit black ice i lost control of the car by the time i got control back i was doing 60 and just made it round the corner dont know how but i did just before hitting the barrier, when it comes down to it me my wife and my boy about died in a car crash for a 5 min appointment, would it not more sense to send a kids doctor up for a few days every month to do consultations, it will save money to because i claimed £40 and there was a few others for up here doing the same it all adds up
Lizz and Kosacid I recommend both your posts. In their own different ways they highlight so much of what is wrong with our NHS service in the North. The sad truth is that if your posts were to be read by any NHS Executive they wouldn't see or understand the problems you are highlighting.
Kosacid I am so pleased that you and your family got home safely.
Article in the North Star this week about Gary Coutts, Elaine Mead and Nick Kenton (NHS Highland) being called to a meeting in Holyrood to explain a few things. I believe they are not very happy bunnies.
It will be interesting to see if they tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth........Its wrong all the answers should have been there first time round. Caithness General is an excellent hospital with excellent staff they must be under terrible stress at present with this ongoing situation.
Thank you janeyj for your comments.
For the last few years I have been requesting costing from NHS Highland, they have managed to supply some of the figures I wanted but even applying to Holyrood under The Freedom of Information Act ,I have failed to get others as they are not recorded or broken down by region.
I see every day the plight of this essential service and yet am unable to get accurate figures. I did note however that there is now a move to stop the use of locums and possibly an increase in increments to try and persuade medical staff that living in The Highlands is worth their while. I have never however seen any adverts that actively promote the area, it's lack of crime, inexpensive housing,stunning countryside and wild life that contribute to a much higher standard of living than is enjoyed through most of this island nation.
Excellent hospital and excellent staff does not excuse the higher management for the downgrading of facilities again.
All it takes is 1 big accident involving 2 people out of hours that need emergency life threatening care and Wick will be over stretched ...
As for stress ...it is handed over by the powers to be due to staff shortages and we will cope mentality which isn't healthy.
We need a hospital that can preserve life in life threatening circumstances to national standards or beyond, out of hours as well as the 9-5 care.
The nurses still care...the docs still care ...the service is cut back too much to care.
Fully agree Dadie.
Can anyone tell me who is responsible for all this downgrading? If it's the Scottish government, I certainly won't be voting SNP!
The SNP have devolved powers for the NHS in Scotland.
It is reported they have withheld over £400 million in funding from Scotland NHS in the past year.
Also it is reported that increases in spending have been only 1.7% compared to 4.5% in England.
No doubt their supporters will find a thousand excuses to blame Westminster for Scottish NHS promises but the day to day running and funding is purely down to the SNP and has been since they've held power in Scotland for the last seven years.
Most reputable media outlets have the figures available.
Not anti SNP just not taken in by anything they say as being any more gospel than any other party.
I think my better half put into context when she said she's getting a bit sick of the SNP dominating the general election programming and media at the moment.
It is supposed to be a General Election for the whole UK, I fully accept that the SNP have a voice in Scotland and speak for their 100,000 or so members and may well get a good amount of seats, but the sad reality is the population of Scotland isn't even as large as that of London buts it's dominating the whole election campaign for the whole UK.
I watched Evan Davies interview with Nicola Sturgeon and she was not better at giving straight answers than any other party leader even when it came down to matters which don't affect Scotland she was very circumspect in not giving a straight answer, it basically boiled down to if there's any remote possibility it might effect Scotland they will vote on it.
It all seems very shabby no better than any other leader but whichever way the cookie crumbles on Election Day she will only have around 2 to 2.5 million votes that's if the pundits are correct. The population of the UK is around 65 million whichever way it falls if the SNP wade in blocking policies and rocking the boat it won't sit well with the majority of the electorate.
The SNP or any other party can spend as much money as they want on NHS Highland. If ts badly run then, its badly run. Surely ?
Absolutely.
Like any good engine if it is not fed with quality fuel and well maintained it will not run properly.
Too many chiefs and not enough indians, as I have said from the start.
One Matron used to run whole hospitals it now takes two corridors of office wallahs to run.
Most recent development is that cataract daycare surgery is not happening in Wick for some time as two lynchpin staff are both on maternity leave and there is no locum cover due to general shortage of opthalmologists.
Waiting times are almost double national average of 7-9 weeks, Raigmore can not cope with extra operations so patients longest/most urgent/make complaint are being offered consultation at Golden Jubilee at Clydebank. As a result their waiting time average from diagnosis to consultation of 4 - 6 weeks is stretching to 6 - 8 weeks and by the end of the month it will be 10 weeks.
The good thing about going to Clydebank is that 4 star accommodation is provided free of charge for up to three nights (and longer if clinically required for the patients wellbeing)
We were there this week and had no complaints about the hospital or the hotel. We did eat in the hospital canteen as times were more convenient for clinic appointments. Food was of hotel quality, nicely presented and piping hot.
Thanks to a forward thinking lady in Finance office in Inverness they even have a supply of the new style refund form for travel expenses.
Whilst it is good to know hubby`s surgeries will go ahead and he is in good hands, it would have been far more convenient for the operations to have been done in Wick.
Will the last one out please switch out the lights http://www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk/N...Hospital1.aspx