Beauly GP is Highland Heroes healthcare hero of the year
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When Dr Ross Jaffrey began sharing simple messages about hygiene at the start of the coronavirus pandemic he had no idea how popular that would be – or how long it would go on for.
An astonishing 12,000 people joined his online Safe Hands, Save Lives group in the early months of the pandemic, with around 10,000 even now continuing to follow what he has to say.
The Beauly GP is undoubtedly a worthy winner of the Highland Heroes healthcare hero award, but while delighted to pick up the prize he was quick to add: "That's not why I do it!"
He said: "When the pandemic started it was a case of thinking, 'What can I do that would be useful for people? What can I do that would help people to help themselves to feel safer and more secure?'
"My own community in Beauly really took it on board and from it there it just grew, right across the Highlands really.
"I think it was the reassurance that was important – and still is, because we're not out of this yet.
"Thankfully the number of people in intensive care is not as high as it was, but overall hospital dmissions are higher than they've ever been and it is still important, I think, for people to have somewhere they can get the simple advice and guidance and know that it is coming from a source that can be trusted."
He added: "There are so many people working in healthcare that could have won this award – and deserved to. It's nice to have won it but I'm really just doing my bit."
