Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Health minister to review GP contracts

Shona Robison
Shona Robison

Health minister Shona Robison Ms Robison said that she was was looking into reviewing contracts for GPs in an attempt to make the role more attractive for younger doctors to move to more remote areas – saying the system was in need of “a radical overhaul”.

She said: “I absolutely understand all the concerns about the fragility of the GP services, here in Wick and elsewhere.

“The simple fact is that we cannot at the moment encourage enough doctors to go into general practice because they don’t see it as a rewarding and fulfilling career.”

She said that changes to primary care were also necessary to reduce pressures on GPs, suggesting that Wick would be a possible option for trialling alternative schemes.

Despite concerns expressed at the meeting about recruitment, NHS Highland’s outgoing chairman said that overall the board is in a strong position.

Garry Coutts will step down in the new year after 12 years in the top job with the north’s health board, the statutory maximum for a chairman.

He told the annual review in Wick that 2013/14 had been a “tough year” which ended with the board having to take a £2.5million loan from the Scottish Government in order to break even.

The most recent year was characterised by “improvements of system and outcomes”, while the next year would be defined by “stability and confidence”, said Mr Coutts.

Speaking at the annual review he said: “I think that actually NHS Highland is doing well as a health board.

“I think that if you compare us to other health boards in Scotland then we are doing well and I’m confident that we have a very good platform to go from strength to strength.

“When I speak to patients and the public the vast majority of people tell me what a great service and experience they have.

“In fact my inbox has more letters of compliment than complaint.”

He added that he felt the board had turned the corner finanically, following concerns about the board’s management of its budget.

Health secretary Shona Robison added: “Despite the health budget now being more than £12million, the demands on health services are increasing and probably at a faster pace.

“We constantly need to evolve with how we cope with that.”