Life-changing services for rural areas need not be such a remote possibility

Writing in the Press & Journal recently, Jim Hunter told of the desire of many young people to make their lives in rural communities. But he went on to warn of the real threat that these communities will be depleted by as much as 30% over the next twenty years, singling out shortage of housing as a key issue.  My work with the two remote communities of Glenelg and Raasay over the past year has shown me that the difficulties go much further. In particular, problems with healthcare provision could sound the death knell of rural life.

During my work with these communities I heard many troubling tales which, if I’m honest, would make even a wilderness-loving person like me think twice about relocating, no matter how beautiful the area or warm the welcome.

GP and PC make a great team, so long as they do not become inseparable

A couple of years ago I spent a day at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness shadowing a hospital colleague. It had been over twenty years since I had worked there as a Senior House Officer in the medical unit and I felt it was time to familiarise myself with the services as experienced by all the patients I had referred there over the years.  It was fascinating to see for myself what my patients actually go through after I send them in, and how radically things have moved on since my day.  I remember in my day, being blown away by the wonders of clot-busting drugs to treat heart attacks, now quaintly outdated, superseded by the catheter lab.

Modern life leaves us woefully unprepared to deal with death

I have no difficulty finding the house as I have been visiting here with increasing frequency over the last months. I turn at the end of the road and park in the usual spot. I notice that the sun now has some warmth in it, very different from through the winter when I rushed into the house to get out of the cold. I pause, noticing the cherry blossom. Spring is definitely here. And this is a very different visit.  I leave my doctor’s bag and my clipboard of patient notes in the car as they won’t be needed, because the patient I have been helping care for at home has died and I am visiting their widow today.