Caithness Courier headlines for March 23, 2016

NHS Highland is facing a growing backlash over the referral of mums-to-be from the far north to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. Many who attended a forum in Wick to discuss the future of the baby unit at Caithness General Hospital and other health issues, focused on their concerns about many pregnant woman having to make the marathon trip to Raigmore to give birth.

ORGANISERS of the Caithness international Science Festival are delighted after seeing crowds of people turn out, to enjoy their crammed week of activities. The 14th annual event was held last week and as well as a four-day programme of workshops for schools, the organising charity behind the festival, Science O3, arranged a wide variety of public events and workshops for all ages.

MANY local mums-to-be will continue to give birth at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness until the future of the maternity unit at Caithness General is decided. That became clear following a major investigation by NHS Highland into the death of a newborn baby at the Wick hospital in September.

A PUBLIC meeting on plans to reduce the speed limit around Wick's new Noss Primary School to 20mph, produced a lively debate. Highland Council's ward forum gave people the chance to question community service manager Iain Moncrieff about the new traffic order that is being proposed.

CAITHNESS has become the first region in Scotland to gain national recognition for its commitment to high-quality customer service after achieving WordlHost-recognised destination status. It comes as a quarter of tourism businesses in the county reached WorldHost-recognised business status - meaning they have trained at least half of their front-line staff using WorldHost customer service training, a gold standard in the industry.

A SPECIAL salmon and trout fly fundraiser has helped net a Caithness charity more than £2,700. Thurso-based North Highland Cancer Information and Support Centre, received a cheque for £2768 as a result of the Pink Linda Initiative. It was launched last year by Pat Quinn from Halkirk, a close friend of child minder, Linda Sutherland, also from Halkirk, who underwent treatment for breast cancer after being diagnosed in 2014.