Caithness workshop helps shape future of health and social care
A workshop held in Wick has been hailed as an important milestone in developing the clinical brief for the major redesign of Caithness health and social care services.
Senior NHS Highland officials and clinical experts met in the Pulteney Centre to consider plans that include two new community hubs and care villages in Wick and Thurso.
The “cross-checking” workshop gave leaders of the range of departments involved an opportunity to present and review their visions for the services that will be delivered.
The event was attended by NHS Highland chief executive Pam Dudek and a number of other senior executives from the health board, as well as Ron Gunn, chairman of the campaign group Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT).
Sites in the Noss area of Wick and at Thurso's Dunbar Hospital have been chosen as the locations for the community hubs. The health board says these will be part of wider proposals to redesign, modernise and improve health and social care services in the area.
The workshop was independently facilitated by Hub North Scotland.
Graham McCorkindale, of Hub North Scotland, said: “We were delighted to support the clinical workshop in Wick alongside colleagues from NHS Highland. Our input was led by Norman Sutherland who is not only a renowned healthcare planner but is a native of Caithness.
“The workshop was an important milestone in the development of the clinical brief for the redesign of health and care services across Caithness.
“By undertaking this exercise, we will be able to work with NHS Highland to ensure that all aspects of the service redesign are fully coordinated.
"It was also great to meet in person so many of the NHS Highland team and to receive a warm welcome from all the team and the community. We look forward to continuing to work with our NHS Highland colleagues to achieve the best possible outcomes for the people of Caithness.”
Christian Nicolson, NHS Highland’s Caithness district manager, said: “This was a very useful event that brought all the various disciplines involved in delivering health and social care together to help shape the future of their services in the area.
“The planned community hubs are just one element of a much wider programme of transformational service change seeking to fundamentally redesign how we deliver adult health and social care services for people living in Caithness.”
CHAT's Ron Gunn said: "I was delighted to have been invited to attend the workshop and sit on the cross-checking panel. As the only one on the panel not having a medical background, I was able to ask questions and raise points on behalf of the wider Caithness community.
"I thought it was an excellent event with a variety of topics discussed, including non-health services that could be included in the design of the hubs when they are built.
"My hope is that these workshops will lead to a more complete healthcare service for the people who will be using these facilities for many years to come."