Appointment of locum psychiatrist from outwith Caithness 'not an ideal situation' says health campaigner

A CAITHNESS health campaigner has said the appointment of a locum consultant psychiatrist from outwith the county is "not an ideal situation".

Ron Gunn, the chairman of the Caithness Health Action Team (CHAT) spoke out after it emerged the previous locum consultant did not have her contract renewed by NHS Highland.

He said: "I don't understand why her contract was not renewed as patients seemed to be happy with her and she was based locally.

"You would have to question why you would replace a locum who was doing a good job with a locum who is not based here. Having someone remotely based is not an ideal situation when you are dealing with patients with mental health problems. They need face-to-face appointments and it is really concerning that the new locum is not Caithness based."

Mr Gunn accepted that NHS Highland is "doing its best" to recruit a permanent consultant psychiatrist and is facing "real challenges " in achieving that.

"Having a locum, even remotely, is better than no service but it is very expensive. We would be delighted if the health board could recruit locally or, at least, in the Highlands but we know they are struggling. A locum should only be a short-term appointment until they get someone on a full-time basis. We would like to see face-to-face appointments being available as they were under the previous locum but if the person is based hundreds of miles away how is that going to be done. If the person is prepared to travel up then that's fine but we don't know if that will be the case."

Mr Gunn also pointed there are long queues for patients with mental health issues and said they should be seen as soon as possible.

Far north MSP, Edward Mountain, wrote to NHS Highland chief executive, Pam Dudek, after concerns were raised by constituents about the decision not to renew the contract of the previous locum psychiatrist.

Mrs Dudek, who is retiring at the end of March, stressed that the woman was employed on "a short-term locum contract to provide mental health psychiatric care in the Caithness area."

She said: "NHS Highland’s Mental Health Services have, despite repeated efforts, been unable to recruit to substantive consultant psychiatrist posts in Caithness and other areas in Highland. As a result, to ensure continued care, we have engaged with agency staffing organisations to employ short-term locum consultant psychiatrists through agency contracts. Many of these contracts are high cost with negotiated terms, conditions and benefits that are not available to our permanent workforce. All of the contracts are short-term and reviewed at least every three months."

She acknowledged that short-term contracts can "lead to a lack of consistency" and make it difficult to build "a therapeutic relationship" if the psychiatrist "regularly changes" but she said the experience of colleagues and patients receiving "recent mental health care in Caithness has been positive."

Mrs Dudek added: "To ensure the provision of high quality, cost effective and safe mental health care we review all of the staffing arrangements with the aim of providing a fair provision across all of Highland. A new locum consultant psychiatrist will be providing mental health care in Caithness and, although he is based remotely, he has been working elsewhere in NHS Highland with success. I would like to provide assurance that patients can continue to request face to face appointments and we will ensure that this is provided where clinically indicated.

"Our aim is to recruit a permanent consultant psychiatrist in Caithness."

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