Nairn anger over people being asked to travel to Inverness for Covid booster jags
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A SENIOR partner at the Nairn Healthcare Group has accused the Scottish Government of running a “command and control culture from Edinburgh”.
The top doctor claims the method prevents health boards from having the flexibility needed in rural areas to deliver vaccination programmes.
Pressure is mounting on the government to change course as patients in Nairnshire received invitations to attend vaccination hubs in Inverness for their latest Covid booster and flu jabs.
Earlier this year there was confusion when patients were told to travel to Inverness for booster jabs.
Following a public outcry NHS Highland also set up a clinic at the Nairn Community & Arts Centre for patients who had previously attended the Nairn Health Care Centre for their Covid inoculations.
Executive partner Dr Adrian Baker, of the Nairn Healthcare Group, said: “The practice wants to continue to deliver all vaccinations to their patient population but have been stopped by the Scottish Government Primary Care Division as ‘this is not part of the GP contract’. We are all aware how inflexible and unsuited this contract is for rural areas and four years of protests by our representatives have fallen on deaf ears.
“There is a command and control culture from Edinburgh that prevents local flexibility and solutions that boards may wish to implement.”
Dr Baker added: “This undermines General Practice, provides poor patient care, reduces local services and increases complexity and travel for patients. It is a poor solution to a problem that did not exist in NHS Highland before the implementation of this contract.
“Patients, practices and politicians are upset and unhappy with the situation. This has caused unnecessary stress widespread dissatisfaction and chaos.”
He said during 2021 more than 30,000 Covid jags were delivered at Nairn Healthcare Centre.
Pamela Dudek, chief executive of NHS Highland, said the board is supportive of using the existing healthcare facility in Nairn to deliver the service and she has been backed by local MSPs and clinicians.
Volunteer driver with Wheels in Nairn, Lorna Fisher, a former consultant in rheumatology and rehabilitation at Raigmore Hospital said: “For 22 years a large percentage of my time was spent travelling around the Highlands holding peripheral clinics.”
Vaccinations, she added, had always been provided in an efficient manner by the practice in Nairn.
Retired Nairn GP Alastair Noble said: “Nairnshire is angry and does not understand. Why when we have a first-class service/practice and premises which can deliver all the vaccinations are we being asked to go to the Eastgate Centre in Inverness? If we do not get this sorted we will see the return of long-forgotten infectious diseases and the complete end of the NHS in Scotland.”
Fergus Ewing MSP said: “I’ve supported the Nairn GP Practice in their aim to continue to provide vaccination services in Nairn. The GP contract was fairly widely criticised by rural GPs. This is a chance for the board and the Scottish Government to display flexibility and a willingness for services to be provided for rural Scotland in the best way.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “While local arrangements like these are a matter for the health board, we support initiatives like the Nairn Community Centre model which place people’s needs at the heart of delivery plans. This winter boards are using a variety of venues and locations reflecting population size and geography to ensure accessibility and convenience.”
