By April Mitchinson
Aberdeen Press and Journal
PERTHSHIRE, Scotland — Health bosses have been accused of providing “third-world” levels of care to a remote village in Perthshire.
The executive director of the Scottish Patients Association, Dr Jean Turner, said people living in Kinloch Rannoch had not felt safe since 24-hour GP cover ceased in 2006.
In a letter to Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon, Dr Turner compared the level of service provided by NHS Tayside to that found in countries such as Malawi.
Dr Turner, who is a graduate of Aberdeen University, referred to two cases where out-of-hours care had fallen “below standard”.
In the first, villagers spent more than an hour trying to resuscitate a man who had a heart attack while they waited for an ambulance to arrive. The 56-year-old man did not survive.
The second involved a woman who had to go to Dundee by ambulance because a local GP was not available on a Sunday to give her an injection to ease the side effects of cancer treatment.
She had to take three buses and a taxi to return home.
Dr Turner said: “Scotland is not a third-world country, yet some doctors and some health boards would seem to accept standards of cover which exist in Malawi.
“For example, in that country the further away from a main road you live the further away from healthcare. Emergency care is extremely difficult to obtain and frequently nigh impossible.
“Why are we suggesting that people who live in our remote and rural areas should approach the standards from which third-world countries would love to advance?
“It is to be hoped that those who seek to downsize an NHS service will never be a victim of the unintended consequences of their decisions.”
In 2004 GPs were allowed to opt out of providing out-of-hours care at evenings and weekends, with responsibility passing to health boards.
NHS Tayside declined to comment on Dr Turner’s letter. It has previously said that providing out-of-hours cover for Kinloch Rannoch would cost about £900 per person and that this would be an inefficient use of money.
The health board said doctors were available out of hours in Perth and Aberfeldy, and like many other rural communities Kinloch Rannoch can rely on the air ambulance in an emergency.
The Scottish Parliament’s health committee is working on a report into out-of-hours care in Scotland.
A spokeswoman said: “The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the NHS provides a high-quality service for all of Scotland.
“NHS Tayside is responsible for ensuring the adequate provision of out-of-hours care for residents in Kinloch Rannoch.
“We will respond to the Scottish Patient’s Association in due course.”
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