Around 150 local people packed out Ballinluig village hall on Wednesday night to grill NHS Tayside bosses on out-of-hours health provision in Highland Perthshire.
Health Board chiefs explained that issues were being aggravated by a failure to recruit doctors, particularly within the GP primary care sector. Scotland will require a further 700 new GP’s over the coming years and the GP crisis is at such an extent that vacancies in NHS Tayside have often only attracted one applicant.
Exasperated residents gave personal anecdotes of poor care they had received. MSP Murdo Fraser, among those attending, asked if a health care hub could be established at Perth's PRI, an option that Tayside bosses said they were examining.
Residents also spoke of poor ambulance cover in the Pitlochry area with just one vehicle to serve a huge geographically diverse area.
Commenting after the meeting, Murdo Fraser MSP said:
“The attendance at this meeting reflects the real public concern that exists in the area in relation to accessing NHS Services.
“People are deeply unhappy at the prospect of having to travel Dundee on evenings and weekends to access out of hours services, especially when the weather is bad.
“It was encouraging to hear NHS officials indicate that they are looking at restoring out of hours provision at PRI and I would hope that this option materializes.
“It is clear that residents in the area believe that current arrangements are not only inconvenient but also unsafe and health board bosses must work towards providing a better service for constituents in rural locations.”
Local Conservative Councillor Ian Campbell said:
"It is obvious that NHS Tayside really needs to examine how it approaches healthcare in its rural areas.
“Their current strategy has been too Dundee- centric in its desire to have as many healthcare solutions as possible on one site.
“This policy does not suit rural areas and there needs to be creative thinking about how we use resources we have out with Perth and Dundee. As a member of the new Health and Social Care Board I will be raising the issue of 'rurality' as an immediate priority.”