‘Small isles’ GP found dead

A FAMILY doctor on one of Scotland’s smallest inhabited islands has been found dead less than a month after admitting drink driving.

A FAMILY doctor on one of Scotland’s smallest inhabited islands has been found dead less than a month after admitting drink driving.

The body of Dr Rachel Weldon, 54, was discovered at her home on the Inner Hebridean island of Eigg on Wednesday. She is believed to have taken her own life.

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Last month she had been fined £400 and banned from the road for 14 months at Fort William Sheriff Court after she had been found to be twice the legal alcohol limit on a trip to the town in January.

Dr Weldon was the GP for the Inner Hebridean “small isles” of Eigg, Muck, Rum and Canna and had lived on Eigg for the past 12 years with her husband.

She had featured on a programme for BBC Radio 4, entitled GPs Who Need GPS, in which she travelled to Canna in an inflatable boat to carry out her rounds.

Dr Iain McNicol, who had known Dr Weldon for almost 20 years and carried out locum cover for her on Eigg six weeks ago, said: “Everyone is shocked at the news. What a waste of talent.

“Rachel was a very nice person who liked to help people and a very well thought of doctor by all her colleagues. We are really sorry for Eric, Rachel’s husband, and her mother. Eric was very much her support in the practice and he ran the boat for her.”

Maggie Fyffe, leader of the 95-strong community on Eigg, said: “I am totally stunned by Rachel’s death. The entire island group feels the same.”

Another Eigg resident, who did not want to be named, said: “We all found out on Thursday and none of us can understand it. She was a very good doctor and will be sadly missed.”

On the island of Muck, Mary MacEwen of the Port Mhor Hotel said: “Everybody on Muck is shocked, because she was a wonderful doctor.”

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Last month, Dr Weldon admitted the drink driving offence following an incident on 23 January near the Caol Shopping Centre on the outskirts of Fort William.

Defence lawyer Stephen Kennedy told Sheriff Douglas Small at the time: “She consumed alcohol on the ferry from Eigg. She very much regrets the incident. She is waiting to hear if she can continue to practise.”

It is understood a locum has been appointed by NHS Highland to attend to the medical needs of the four islands. Dr Weldon is understood to have originally gone to Eigg as a locum, but became the resident GP when the practice became vacant 12 years ago.

She had been known to radio listeners who heard her describe life as a doctor in one of the most remote parts of Scotland for a Radio 4 documentary. Listeners heard how she travelled to Canna for her monthly round, along with her husband Patrick and their collie dog Laurie.

In 2005, Dr Weldon told the then Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy of the difficulties faced by remote medical practices as part of a campaign organised by medical magazine Pulse.

A spokesman for NHS Highland said the health board was “deeply saddened to hear of the death of Dr Rachel Weldon. Our thoughts are with Rachel’s family, friends and the local communities.”

Northern Constabulary said: “Police in Fort William are continuing to make enquiries into the sudden death of a 54-year-old female on the island of Eigg on Wednesday. A report has been submitted to the procurator-fiscal.”

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