People in Wick waiting nearly two years for hearing aids on NHS

Holyrood Notebook by Edward Mountain

That the NHS in Scotland is in deep crisis has never been so clear. In the past week alone we’ve seen examples from right across the country of the dire state of affairs.

Appalling waiting lists, soaring delayed discharge rates and worsening outcomes for patients are issues which regularly dominate the pages of newspapers and the topics of debate in parliament.

In recent days Audit Scotland, the country’s public services watchdog, warned things were so bad patient safety would be jeopardised.

When examining the wellbeing of the health service, it’s easy to focus on the big-ticket items like cancer treatment times or cancelled operations.

But sometimes it’s the more modest services that provide an insight into just how bleak things are.

Last year, a constituent in the region told me about appallingly long waits for appointments in relation to hearing aids.

They couldn’t understand why something which you can walk into a high street business and have done almost immediately was taking months on end with the NHS.

I wrote to the health board about this, and the chief executive responded with some stark data in relation to assessments for hearing aids, their subsequent fittings, and any necessary reassessment.

In Wick, not only does a first assessment take an average of 31 weeks to happen, but the fitting of a hearing aid now exceeds a year, with the average delay 64 weeks.

For reassessment, it’s a further 39 weeks.

This is a totally unacceptable delay.

The situation in Raigmore isn’t much better, with a 49-week waiting period for fitting.

Hearing aids may not make the headlines in the way other health topics do, but for those affected this is an utterly miserable experience.

So, it’s time for NHS Highland, and other health boards, to start working with these high street firms who seem to be able to offer such services with hardly any delay at all.

The link-up must be possible, and it should be done without any cost to the patient.

A positive relationship like this would help the health board, who would be able to cut down these unwanted waiting lists significantly.

It would be welcomed by the chemists and others who would be pleased about the extra business.

Most importantly, it would provide a sharp and efficient service for patients, whose quality of life would improve immeasurably as a consequence.

Another group of people whose quality of life needs to be prioritised is pregnant women across Caithness.

The situation with maternity here was bad enough before the Scottish Government announced it was pausing the redevelopment work at Raigmore.

It was another hammer blow for families expecting a baby, some of whom now face a journey of up to four hours if the struggling Raigmore can’t take them.

It would then be a case of a frantic journey to Aberdeen or even Perth.

I raised this in Holyrood with health secretary Neil Gray last week, and his answer – while not committing any investment – at least shows he’s keen to talk about how to do things better for pregnant women in this part of the world.

These are but two issues to trouble NHS Highland, and there’s plenty more coming down the tracks.

But a commitment from government and health board alike to do better for these two groups would at least signal a flicker of welcome progress.

• Edward Mountain is a Scottish Conservative MSP for the Highlands and Islands.

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