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Gail Ross to set up mental health task force in Caithness


By David G Scott

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NORTH politician Gail Ross has called for organisations and public agencies to join her in forming a task force to look into the provision of mental health services in Caithness.

The SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross decided to hold the inquiry as a result of the "increased number of incidents in the county linked to mental health" and she feels that the situation is being compounded by Covid-19.

Gail Ross is concerned over the 'increasing numbers' of Caithness people struggling with their mental health. Picture: DGS
Gail Ross is concerned over the 'increasing numbers' of Caithness people struggling with their mental health. Picture: DGS

Speaking today, Mrs Ross said: “I’m hugely concerned that there are increasing numbers of people who are struggling with their mental health but cannot access support or help in the county.

"The difficult circumstances that we find ourselves in as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have had a major impact on us all, and I’m worried that services to support mental health are inadequate – I fully support other efforts on social media to get these improved."

Mrs Ross said she had written to NHS Highland to ask for a detailed account of "everything that is available to help people in distress".

She added: "I am also compiling a list of third and voluntary sector organisations that offer services to help people with mental illness."

Mrs Ross, who lives in Wick, wants to set up a task force to monitor and improve services. She is calling on public sector agencies and third sector organisations to come together and take stock of what services are available and "to plan strategically for what can be done to improve these".

Gail Ross MSP with her dog Monty. Picture: DGS
Gail Ross MSP with her dog Monty. Picture: DGS

"This requires a whole-system approach. Ideally, we need to prevent people getting to crisis point in the first place but we also need to make sure that people know where they can turn to when they need help.

"There has been a lot of effort to eradicate the stigma surrounding asking for help with a mental illness, but much more needs to be done."

Mrs Ross says she would like to hear from people with experience of the services, or lack thereof, and she urges people to write to her at gail.ross.msp@parliament.scot

"It’s imperative that we get accounts of lived experience so that the NHS and the Scottish Government are aware of the scale of the issue," she added.

"I would like to thank everyone that has contacted me so far. I know it can be difficult to talk about this and I really appreciate all the support and suggestions."


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