In regards to the article in today's Courier "Press Banned from Meeting about Hospital Surgical Cover" I'd like to make the following points -
The press were never invited as it wasn't a public meeting,
It was not a Caithness and Sutherland Area Committee meeting,
It wasn't only me and Deirdre that were against them reporting from the meeting, NHS Highland reps made it very clear that they would have to reconsider their position if the press stayed,
We were there to help find a solution and this would have been extremely counterproductive,
There was a possibility of sensitive and confidential information being discussed regarding individual persons and contracts,
The meeting was never advertised as a public meeting,
People needed to speak frankly and the presence of the press may have restricted that,
Shock, horror, we do actually have meetings to try and remedy situations without making them public. I call it 'doing my job' and I do it whether the paper covers it or not,
The press has already been told that we would contact them when the meeting concluded to brief them on the main issues,
We are looking forward to working alongside NHS Highland to try and resolve the current staffing situation,
There will be more meetings, including public ones, and the press will be more than welcome to attend,
No decisions about changes to service were made, these will be made in public and with consultation,
We need to focus on the positive story that came from the meeting, that surgical cover continues, THAT is the public interest story.
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