Hospital

[maria]

Hi

Can anyone let me know if a visitor to Wick can have their dialysis there. I have traced my family to Wick dating to 1760 or before. My husband & I would love to come and visit. However he needs dyalisis 3 times a week and we need to know if there is a unit near Wick.

PS is there a quick way to get to Wick (no flying) ,we have done a train timetable and it takes nearly 8hrs from Glasgow.

Regards
Maria

[JimH]

Sorry - the only quick way is flying.
It is 8 hours by train and 6 hours by car.
You will need to check with the hospital about medical treatment on 01955 605050

[maria]

Hi

Thanks for phone no. Do you know if there is there a straight train line from Aberdeen or do we have to go via Inverness.

Maria

[JAWS]

Maria, they do have a dialysis unit in the hospital at Wick but like JimH I'm not sure how busy it is.
I'm sure the Hospital will give you any information you require unless somebody here can tell you.

[Whitewater]

No direct train to Wick, you have to change in Inverness and the train between Inverness and Wick is slow. As Jaws said you will get all the information you require from the hospital.

Apart from flying the only quick way up here is by car.

[George Brims]

Maria you need to check a map - Aberdeen would be quite a detour on the way to Wick from Glasgow.

Have you thought about taking a sleeper train from Glasgow to Inverness? Actually with the destruction of the rail system by Blair's Tory - oops sorry "New Labour"- government I don't even know if that's possible any more. As someone who can sleep on any form of transport I am not one of those who finds travelling arduous, but I know it is for many. My problem is getting off the plane/train/bus/whatever with a sore neck and back!

[JAWS]

You can find train times at http://www.firstgroup.com/scotrail/index.php.

The quickest I can find takes seven and a half hours with an hour's wait in Inverness.

The bus is even more of a joke. Anything from 10 to 13 hours with changes at Dundee, Perth and Inverness. (Roll up, roll up - Join the Tour of Historic Scottish Bus Stations! Don't start on me folks, England's as bad - unless you want to go to London that is!)

So much for our wonderful Public Transport System. It's quicker to fly from Amsterdam to South Africa than a bus journey from Aberdeen to Wick.
You can fly the Atlantic a lot faster than a two hundred mile train journey in Scotland.

Has nobody told the clowns that they are no longer competing with the horse and cart?
It would probably be quicker to flag down a passing Norse Longboat and scrounging a lift.

[JAWS]

Maria you need to check a map - Aberdeen would be quite a detour on the way to Wick from Glasgow.

Have you thought about taking a sleeper train from Glasgow to Inverness? Actually with the destruction of the rail system by Blair's Tory - oops sorry "New Labour"- government I don't even know if that's possible any more. As someone who can sleep on any form of transport I am not one of those who finds travelling arduous, but I know it is for many. My problem is getting off the plane/train/bus/whatever with a sore neck and back!

Be fair, public transport has been no different for the last 50 years. The attitude has always been that you'll take what your given and tough if you don't like it.
Trains have always been late or have broken down. People have always complained they were slow and dirty and the staff surly.

The tracks were never upgraded to compete with modern travel. The Tilting Train was a typical example of the Post War Railways. Ill thought out, under-funded and a total embarrassment, so much so that when somebody took the rubbish off their hands it was on condition that they hid it for ten years until people had forgotten the debacle. I don't even think the failure ever managed to get into proper use and when it was used all it did was refuse to tilt properly and make people feel sick.

The only routes which were reasonably quick were those serving London and Bristol and London, Edinburgh and Glasgow and places between those if you were lucky enough to be near the odd stopping place.
The railways never came to term with the fact that they no longer had the public held over a barrel.

[George Brims]

Well bad things may have been for a long time, but that was no excuse for taking them from bad to worse. I tend to take a utilitarian view. What possible benefit accrues to the public from, for instance, the situation of a colleague of mine who used to go back to the UK and take a train from his parents' house to his in-laws', the two families living on opposite sides of London? He used to have to buy one ticket per person in the family to make the trip. Now he has to buy three tickets for each of them, and the journey takes longer.

[JAWS]

I don't consider getting from Edinburgh to London in under five hours to be bad. Have they managed to upgrade the West Coast Mainline yet? I know they have been talking about doing it for at least 35years.

London, like all cities, believes that nobody wants to travel across it but only travel into the centre as if nowhere else exists.

At least if the railways don't provide a service now then you can get rid of the operators, a thing you could never do before.

[Valerie Campbell]

Hi Maria,

When my Mum was on dialysis at Glasgow Royal, their co-ordinator said that it could be arranged for her to be dialised up here if she was fit enough for a visit. Speak to the staff at the hospital where your husband is treated and they will liase with Wick.

I know it is more expensive but it may be worth considering flying up. It's more direct and less timewise as well as being a lot easier than changing trains/buses.

[maria]

Hi All

Thanks you all for the info.

It is such a pity there is no direct train route to Wick. I will check with Stobhill Hosp to see what they know.

The plane is a good option but its just that I haved this image of a Loganair plane as a tiny matchbox (I don't know if this is the case). Has anyone used it and have any coments about it.

Regards
Maria

[Neil]

Loganair use "matchboxes" for their inter island routes, namely Islanders which are the aircraft mostly associated with them.

For the Wick route they use Saab 340 which are a fair bit bigger seating 34 rather than 8.

Pressurised and have a trolley dolly

Hope this helps

[Fran]

Hi Maria, there was a train direct from aberdeen to wick, which i often used but im not sure if it is on at the moment. the flight from aberdeen to wick takes half an hour or so and the plane has about 16 seats.
Dialysis......the unit at caithness General hospital is full at the moment but is opening full time from august so you may get a chair then. the best thing would be to get someones chair when they go on holiday. One patient has just returned from a weeks holiday so her chair was empty for the 3 days. something will be arranged for you.