Golspie hospital treats patients with chronic pain throughout the Highlands
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A chronic pain management scheme for the whole of the Highlands – based in Golspie – is to receive a significant boost thanks to Inverness businessman David Sutherland.
The treatment for intractable pain conditions is based at the Lawson Memorial Hospital, where there is a dedicated day-care theatre, carrying out a total of 1200 procedures a year.
Now there will be a doubling of capacity for the infusion service, thanks to Mr Sutherland offering £10,000 of the £15,000 costs, with NHS Highland agreeing to fund the remainder.
David Sutherland said: "I am a shareholder in two Sutherland hotels, the Royal Marine in Brora and the Royal Golf in Dornoch, which support a combined total of 60 jobs.
“Offering assistance to the chronic pain management unit, which does such excellent work, is a way of expressing my gratitude to the Sutherland community and further sustaining the Lawson Memorial in the future.”
Dr John Macleod, lead consultant for the chronic pain management service, said: "Demand is huge for the service based at Golspie, where the treatment team includes specialist nurse Anthony Lester, two nurses, two auxiliaries and a radiographer.
“Because of the nature of the pain, our infusion patients are seldom discharged. This new funding will enable us to take on patients who have been on the waiting list for some time. Patients having this treatment at this present time are waiting longer times between repeat treatments and hopefully this funding will improve this.
“Chronic pain is the largest public health issue in Scotland, with up to 20 per cent of people suffering from it and six per cent in its severest form.
“We’re very grateful to Mr Sutherland and the NHS Board for coming together in this new project to expand our operation.”
The infusion service is a significant part of the Golspie pain management effort. It is based on lidocaine, a local anaesthetic agent which is infused into the bloodstream, providing pain relief.
Mr Macleod added: "We carried out 117 lidocaine infusions over the past year and this funding will hopefully allow the lidocaine infusion service to double this capacity, with the addition of another infusion suite, plus the required monitoring equipment.”
Jackie Milburn, clinical nurse manager based at Raigmore Hospital, said: "I was approached by Mr Sutherland, who indicated a willingness to help expand the service. We secured prices for the conversion of the infusion suite plus equipment and supplies, and the board agreed to match the difference.
“There are big benefits to patients from a service which tackles conditions which do not respond to other treatments. Patients come from throughout the NHS Highland area, including Lochaber, Strathspey, Caithness and Inverness areas to visit the Lawson Memorial Hospital for their treatments, after which they require rest and recovery before going home.”
A Highland-wide chronic pain management set-up has been based in Golspie since 2010, before which people had to go to Aberdeen or Dundee for day treatment.
The service, and the jobs involved, has also bolstered the economic viability of Lawson Memorial which this year celebrates its 120th anniversary.
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