Sutherland residents to be consulted over future role of Migdale Hospital
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NHS Highland is poised to carry out an extensive community engagement exercise in Sutherland over the future of Migdale Hospital, it has emerged.
The move follows widespread concern locally over the long-term closure of one of the two wards at the 22-bed Bonar Bridge facility which caters for geriatric patients.
It is understood no patients have been admitted to the Strathy Ward for more than a year although NHS Highland have not confirmed the closure but said the ward had been 'reconfigured' due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, fears have been raised at community council level that the hospital, a major employer in the area, could itself be in line for closure.
At its May meeting Lairg Community Council demanded answers as to why the Strathy ward had yet to reopen.
Then chairman Andrew Mackay said: "A £10 million hospital that is only nine years old with only half of it functioning is shocking. They are just using the ward as office space. It is standing there doing nothing."
Political leaders have been drawn into the issue with Bonar Bridge resident Michael Baird contacting Highlands and Islands MSP Rhoda Grant and Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care Humza Yousaf.
But it has now come to light that NHS Highland managers have met twice in recent weeks with Highland councillors representing Sutherland.
East Sutherland and Edderton ward councillor Deirdre Mackay, an NHS Highland board member, has now given an assurance that the hospital is not closing - but will change.
She said the way care was provided for older people had changed dramatically over the past few years and a rethink was needed over the Migdale Hospital's role.
"NHS Highland is starting to draft a programme of community engagement which will hopefully commence in late autumn," she said.
"The purpose will be to look at the most effective use of the hospital from a Sutherland perspective so, as a county, what are our needs and how can these needs best be met locally?
"In terms of both mental health, and supporting people with dementia, policy and practice has changed dramatically over the past years. Indeed it has been transformational.
"This sits alongside a backdrop of UK wide challenges in mental health staffing which impacted on Strathy ward on a regular basis."
Cllr Mackay continued: "The pandemic has provided the opportunity for us to look carefully at what we need, and how we work, with a Sutherland focus within the wider Highland context.
"What we want is a facility which meets the needs of our population now and into the future. Migdale is a valuable, modern facility and we need to explore all possible opportunities to maximise its potential.
"Options are being worked up and these will evolve through meaningful discussion with our communities. The process will involve a full options appraisal and needs assessment and the status quo will be a part of this process."
MSP Rhoda Grant has had constituents contacting her for almost two years highlighting fears about the Strathy ward, hospital staff shortages, admission closures and patients being sent to Inverness to create space for Covid victims.
She said NHS Highland had not been "transparent" and had left people "in the dark" as to what was being planned for the ward and the hospital.
“People have told me they want their services close to home, not centralised, especially when it comes to retaining mental health and dementia care," she said, adding that she had been pushing for a community consultation.
In a response to Ms Grant's latest approach, NHS Highland said: "Given the length of time it (the ward) has been closed and the changes that have taken place in service delivery during the pandemic, it is considered that it would be a good opportunity to review the future service need for the local area and NHS Highland, ensuring we are working on service models fit for the future and not bound by history."
