Edward Mountain MSP said: “During the pandemic we have seen operations reduce by 75 per cent compared to 2019, and a huge reduction in referrals from GPs as patients followed the advice and stayed at home.
“So as NHS Highland seeks to recover and rebuild post pandemic, they face an increasing backlog of cases with a decrease in the number of beds available to treat them in, due to distancing requirements. This is almost the perfect storm.
“After years of centralising health services into Raigmore there is now a huge pressure on the hospital to deliver treatment at a time when social-distancing measures mean the number of beds in each ward have been reduced by around a third.”
Edward Mountain MSP branded delaying the creation of a new North of Scotland Elective Care Centre until 2022 a missed opportunity and added: “Now is surely the time to consider reopening wards in our local hospitals in Invergordon and Golspie. Failing that perhaps we need to look at temporary patient accommodation being built in Raigmore.”
