Protest aims to safeguard GP cover

CAMPAIGNERS protested outside a health board meeting yesterday amid fears they could lose vital medical cover in their remote community.

NHS Highland was considering future options to cover Glenelg and Arnisdale on the mainland opposite Skye after one of two GPs left to take up a post with the Scottish Government. Locum GPs have been covering the post since October.

The area has a scattered population of just 250 and round-the-clock cover has been provided since 1880.

The current GP service at Glenelg provides emergency response within 20 minutes but the loss of a doctor raised concerns that future cover could be provided from Skye, more than an hour away.

Michael Francis, chairman of the Glenelg and Arnisdale Development Trust, said: “We feel certain they are looking at a cost-cutting exercise and we have to fight to maintain the service.”