News

Road Closure due to Landslide A83 (added 8th September 2009)

As most of you already probably know, the Rest and Be Thankful is once again closed due to a land slide. I had a short look at the site and spoke with the police officers in attendance. I hope that it will soon be a bit clearer how long this closure will last.

In terms of out of hours cover and ambulance access we have reactivated the procedures from last time. They worked well and will hopefully continue to work.

Ambulance control is aware of the difficulties and has agreed if necessary to use helicopters (including MOD helicopters) to evacuate sick patients.

Out of Hours will be run as per usual via NHS24, but patients will be asked to attend Dunoon instead of the Vale of Leven, while Dr McCulloch and I will take turns to attend to all seriously ill patients requiring a home visit. The decision to require a home visit is a clinical one and will be made by the triaging nurse or doctor at the out of hours centre. The provision of house visits is restricted to those in clinical need rather than one of convenience.

Current Situation Swine Flu (updated 8 September 2009)

Following the outbreak of swine flu in June this year we have had very few further suspicious cases. Everyone concerned has been doing very well. We expect in the next few week to get clarity about the vaccination programme

Thanks (Swine Flu)

I am very grateful to all my staff and to volunteers out of the community who have allowed us to respond to the swine flu outbreak in June 2009 as well as we could. I am confident that we have so far done all that was needed to prevent further spread and prevent in particular serious illness and death.

I am also grateful to the many variously affected here for their patience and also particularly to those of my patients who graciously accepted short notice cancellation of their appointments for routine reviews etc.

We have been generously supported with Tamiflu supplies by Dunoon Hospital where many staff have been under severe pressure themselves.

Public Health in Inverness has been fantastic with their advice and support at pretty much all hours.

Summary: There is much I am extremely grateful about: I think we have overcome a big hurdle in the first week of what may well become a major national health crisis. I would like to ask you all for continued support, particularly if things become protracted and more severe.

Finally: The best website to get up to date serious information remain the Health Protection Scotland pages, here and here.

And then there is the BBC site.

I will endeavour to provide from time to time updates to the local community as time and patient confidentiality allows.