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NOVEMBER 2014

HighlightsHighland GP recruitmentdrive goes on the buses

HIGHLAND

AHIGHLAND

GP is set tofly to West

Africa on a mercymission to helptackle the Ebola cri-sis.

Dr Chris Mair (60),of Creich Surgery inBonar Bridge, Suther-land, is to spend sev-eral weeks in SierraLeone, leading a smallmedical team in a newEbola treatment centrenear the capital, Free-town.

Before then, he anddozens of other medicshad to go to CatterickGarrison in North York-shire, to receive train-ing and be briefed onwhat to expect in Si-erra Leone.

“I have very littleidea what I will be fac-ing, beyond what Ihave picked up fromthe media,” said DrMair, who is believedto be the only medicfrom NHS Highland’s

DOCTORON EBOLAMISSION

TO AFRICAContinued on page 2

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Sutherland GP’s Ebola mission

area to have volunteered so far.“That doesn’t trouble me – I

will just have to deal with what-ever I encounter.

“But I do know that I have togo. The situation in West Africais horrific, harrowing really, andfrankly I think the response tothe appeal for people to helphas been quite pathetic.”

He added that he was wellaware of the risks but was con-fident that he was doing theright thing.

“I remember talking a longtime ago about doing some-thing to put something backwhen I came towards the endof my career,” he said. “Well,this is it.”

The father of three added:“Obviously, I spoke to my familyabout it. They understand why Iam doing this, and my wife (DrJanet Mair, who with Chris isone of three GPs at the Creichpractice) has been very suppor-tive.”

Dr Mair believes he will bethe medical lead of a team ofaround six or eight people,made up of doctors, nurses andparamedics, at the 92-bedKerry Town Ebola treatmentcentre.

Run jointly by the Depart-ment for International Develop-ment and the charity Save theChildren, the centre is one ofsix being constructed by the UKGovernment as part of its effortto halt the spread of the dis-ease. It has been set up to as-sess and hospitalise patients,while helping to reduce the riskof the disease spreading.

The centre, built by British

Army engineers and local con-struction workers, has dedi-cated beds for infected health-care workers and separatesites for confirmed and sus-pected cases of Ebola. It alsohas a blood testing laboratory.

It’s envisaged that the facilitywill have more than 200 front-line medical staff, with around50 on shift at any given time.There will also be dozens ofnon-clinical support staff andhygienists.

Dr Mair, who applied for aplace on the mission five weeksago, was selected following avetting process to determinewhat particular skills he had tooffer.

He said: “I have experiencein anaesthetics, am confidentwith the medical proceduresthey’ll be doing and have someexperience in management-type roles.

“I trained in hospital medi-cine before I went into generalpractice, and I still work in ahospital – one night a fortnightin the Migdale – and I supposeall that experience was consid-ered useful.”

While Dr Mair said he knewlittle about the working and liv-ing environment he’ll encoun-ter, he is well aware that health-care provision in Sierra Leoneis far behind what he’s beenused to.

“Resources there are waybelow what is required,” hesaid. “I’ve no doubt I’ll be work-ing in very difficult circum-stances.

“And I know that we’ll be ad-dressing issues that are morerelated to public health, doingthings like helping to build pub-

lic confidence in the health ser-vice and trying to change a lo-cal culture where burials ratherthan cremations are favoured.”

Dr Mair said he had neverdone anything remotely like thisbefore, and that he had nevereven been to Africa, although afew years ago his wife was inUganda, where she contractedshigellosis, an acute bacterialinfection.

Curiously, Dr Mair has longbeen interested in Ebola.

He explained: “Ebola firstemerged in the 1970s, aroundthe time I was a medical stu-dent. I remember coming out ofa lecture and being asked:‘What’s your favourite bug?’ Isaid it was Ebola – it was sucha hideous disease with conse-quences that, as we are nowseeing, can be very dramatic.

“That’s why I am doing this, Isuppose. I am sure it is going tobe a very powerful experience– life-changing, I’ve been told.”

Dr Mair added that he real-ised that his African missionwould impact on his colleaguesback home, but added: “Withthe support and goodwill ofeveryone in the practice, therewill be no impact on patients orthe services we provide.”

Ken Proctor, NHS Highlandassociate medical director,wished Dr Mair well on his tripand added: “It is great thatsomeone who is so experi-enced in delivering primarycare in remote and rural com-munities has volunteered forsuch a mission.

“I am certain that he willmake a meaningful contributionto tackling this horrendous dis-ease.”

Continued from front page

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THE board of NHS Highland willbe asked at its meeting on Tues-day (2nd December) formally toendorse plans to develop a com-munity hospital and resourcecentre in Broadford and a ‘spoke’facility in Portree.

Members will be told that2,273 people completed a surveyas part of the public consultationinto the proposed redesign ofNHS Highland’s services in Skye,Lochalsh and South West Ross,with 2:1 in favour of Broadford asthe location for a new ‘hub’ facil-ity.

The survey found there waswidespread support for the casefor change, with almost 86 percent supporting the preferred‘hub’ and ‘spoke’ model.

And asked their views on loca-

tions for the facilities, 57 per centwere in favour of the hub being inBroadford and the spoke in Por-tree, whereas 29 per cent sup-ported Portree as the location forthe hub.

Gill McVicar, director of opera-tions for NHS Highland’s northand west operational unit, andMaimie Thompson, head of pub-lic relations and engagement, willpresent board members with adetailed report on feedback fromthe three-month consultation, andwill ask them to note that theScottish Health Council had en-dorsed the options appraisal andconsultation process.

If the board endorses the rec-ommendation to develop a com-munity ‘hub’ facility in Broadfordand a ‘spoke’ facility in Portree,

the Cabinet Secretary for Healthand Wellbeing will be asked tomake a final decision.

NHS Highland’s board will betold that if the Cabinet Secretaryapproves the preferred optionand locations, planning for thenew facilities and services wouldbegin in earnest.

A ‘business case’ processwould have to be followed, in linewith Scottish Government guid-ance, and an ‘initial agreementdocument’ would need to be pre-pared and submitted to the gov-ernment’s Capital InvestmentGroup.

Although four possible siteshave been identified in Broadfordfor the new 'hub' facility, furtherfeasibility work would be requiredbefore finally determining a site.

Board asked to backSkye hospital plans

MAJOR SERVICE CHANGE: Skye, Lochalsh & SW Ross redesign

STAFF in the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT/Audiology) out-patient departmentat Raigmore Hospital in Invernesshave commissioned a lasting legacy inmemory of staff nurse Kerri- AnneMackenzie, their colleague who died lastyear.All staff members were keen to havesomething in place that they could remem-ber Kerri-Anne by and, with the help ofher parents, they approached ChainsawCreations, who were asked to design abench which now has pride of place out-side the department.

Staff pay tribute to latecolleague with bench

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MEET the latestwinners of NHS

Highland’s monthlyHighland QualityAward.

Pictured holdingthe trophy is westarea manager TracyLigema, who ac-cepted it on behalf ofthe Lochaber districtteam.

Last month, High-lights reported that theteam was one of thefinalists in the ScottishHealth Awards, hav-ing been nominatedby Dr Martin Wilson, aconsultant geriatricianat Raigmore Hospitalin Inverness, and DrMichael Foxley, a re-tired GP and a non-executive member ofNHS Hig h land ’sboard.

Unfortunately, theLochaber team didn’twin a top prize at theawards, but Drs Wil-son and Foxley clearlyfelt they deserved all the recog-nition they could get, hence theirnomination for a Highland Qual-ity Award.

As we reported last month,the award citation explained thatthe team used “joined-up think-ing and collaboration to integratehealthcare, as it is provided by arural general hospital, commu-nity staff and GPs, with socialcare provided by care homes,care-at-home workers and socialwork, as well as with partnerssuch as the ambulance service,the local authority and the thirdand independent sectors”.

It continued: “We believe theteam deserves an award for theculmination of years of workwhich is all geared towards help-

ing older people to live safely athome and be as independent aspossible.”

NHS Highland nomineescame home empty-handed fromthe Scottish Health Awards, butchief executive Elaine Meadsaid they all deserved praise.

“As far as we are concerned,they were all winners,” she said.

DO you know anyone, or anyteam, deserving of a High-

land Quality Award? Nomina-tions can be submitted by staff,patients, carers and the widerpublic for an individual or teamemployed by NHS Highland, orworking as part of the widerNHS.

The award reflects on an indi-

vidual or team who has demon-strated actions and behaviourswhich epitomise the HighlandQuality Approach.

While all members of staffstrive to do a great job and pro-vide outstanding care and com-passion on a daily basis, theaward reflects actions and be-haviours that demonstrate qual-ity improvement, or where indi-viduals or teams have gone outof their way to provide qualitycare, in support of the HighlandQuality Approach.

Nominations should be madeto: Highland Quality Awards,NHS Highland, Assynt House,Beechwood Park, Inverness, IV23BW, or by e-mail to nhshigh-landboard@nhs.net

Lochaber team collectsHighland Quality Award

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NHS HIGHLAND is mounting anextensive GP recruitment cam-paign in England.

The board has commissionedOrchid, a marketing companybased in the Channel Islands, totackle some difficulties it hasbeen experiencing of persuadingGPs to work in some of its moreremote and rural communities.

Now, a van bearing stunningscenes of the Highlands hasbeen driven around the streets ofLiverpool during a major GPs’conference in the city. And eye-catching adverts are appearingon buses and billboards in Leedsin the hope that they will attractGPs to the Highlands.

The campaign also features adedicated website, which detailsGP vacancies and explains someof the many benefits of practisingin the Highlands’ remote and ru-ral communities.

Elaine Mead, NHS Highland’schief executive, said: “We havehad some problems recruitingGPs to some of our remote andrural areas, despite the fact thatthese are some of the most beau-tiful parts of the UK.

“We’ve now decided to be a bitmore imaginative in trying to re-cruit GPs, which is where our Liv-erpool ‘recruitment van’ andLeeds advertising comes in.”

The van was used in Liverpoolin October, when the city hostedthe annual conference of theRoyal College of General Practi-tioners. Both it and the standNHS Highland mounted at theconference have already yieldeda number of positive inquiries.

Bus and billboard advertisingare appearing in Leeds, the York-shire city having been chosenbecause it is at the heart of apopulous part of the north of Eng-land and because it’s a knowncentre of medical excellence.

Elaine Mead said: “We areconfident that there must bemany GPs, either newly qualifiedor experienced, who would relishthe lifestyle and career opportuni-ties working in some of our moreremote areas would provide.

“There are challenges, forsure, but there are also very realpositives to practising in a ruralarea. The workload is enor-mously varied, it’s possible to

spend more time with patients,and GPs can truly make a differ-ence, working with communities,colleagues and others helping toshape services.”

The marketing campaign isfocusing on attracting GPs to se-lected pilot areas: Kintyre andMid Argyll in Argyll and Bute; andArisaig, Mallaig and the SmallIsles in North West Highland.However, recruitment forms onlypart of the initiative, with trainingaimed to helping GPs in the ar-eas to develop their skills, alsoforming a key part of the cam-paign. It is also planned to de-velop community resilience, help-ing local people to find local solu-tions to the problems associatedwith delivering healthcare in re-mote and rural areas.

NHS Highland is being sup-ported in its work by the ScottishGovernment through the BeingHere programme, with £1.5 mil-lion invested in testing innovativeways of recruiting to healthcareprofessionals, and particularlyGPs, in rural areas of Scotland.

Elaine Mead said: “This fund-ing recognises that it has becomeincreasingly difficult to recruit andretain health and care profession-als to remote areas and we hopeour marketing initiative will helpus to develop longer-term recruit-ment solutions that will allow thehealthcare needs of rural commu-nities to be delivered.”

GP recruitmentdrive goes south

One of the images being used in the campaign

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THIS year’s Alcohol Awareness Week earlier thismonth had the aim of encouraging people to thinkabout the impact of alcohol use in their community.

The theme for the week was ‘Facing our AlcoholProblem: Taking back our Health and High Streets’.

NHS Highland substance misuse health promo-tion specialist Elspeth Lee said: “Having encour-aged people to think about the effect alcohol has ontheir health, safety and their relationships, this yearwe were also thinking about the impact of alcoholuse within our communities.

“We know a significant proportion of men (48.7per cent in Scotland and 44.5 per cent in Highland)and women (38.6 per cent in Scotland and 36.8 percent in Highland) drink more than the recom-

mended weekly limit of two – three units a day forwomen and three-four units a day for men with twoalcohol free days per week.

“By making a change and drinking more sensi-bly, people tell us they notice significant changes intheir quality of life, including sleeping better, havingmore energy, feeling happier and less anxious andhaving more money in their pockets.

“By each of us taking part in encouraging morepeople to be aware of sensible drinking limits andsticking to these, we should see fewer alcohol-related problems and disturbances on our streets.”

The week also encouraged people to set them-selves a challenge of having an alcohol-free Janu-ary.

STAFFin the

Blood Sci-ence De-partmentat Raig-moreraised£140 forChildrenin Need bydressingin onesiesor 'badtaste' at-tire. Theywould liketo thankall whocontrib-uted andapolo-gised toany indi-vidualswho wereadverselyaffected inany way!

Think of others the messagein Alcohol Awareness Week

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NHS HIGHLAND has launched anew model of GP provision on theSmall Isles.

Using locum doctors, theboard has managed the GP prac-tice covering Muck, Eigg, Rumand Canna since 2012, continu-ing the full range of general prac-tice services.

However, these arrangementswere always intended to be tem-porary, and NHS Highland hasbeen looking at various options toprovide primary care services onthe islands in a sustainable way.

Now, following extensive com-munity engagement, and havinglooked at models of healthcaredelivery in other remote and ruralareas both in Scotland and fur-ther afield, NHS Highland is pro-viding GP services on the SmallIsles through what it describes as“trailblazing, innovative model”.

It consists of a combination ofimproved community resilienceand local skills to deal withhealthcare needs alongside a vis-iting service provided throughNHS Highlands new rural supportteam, initially led by two doctorsbased on Skye, Dr Clare Whitneyand Dr Angus Venters. There willbe further support from commu-nity health services including dis-trict nursing, CPN and remoteand rural health and social caresupport workers. In addition,there will be the potential throughtele links for people to accessservices without having to travel.

GPs and community teammembers will travel by a dedi-cated boat service from Armadaleon Skye; previously, the SmallIsles’ locums travelled from Mal-laig. They will see patients onEigg, doing so by appointment onTuesdays and alternate Thurs-days from 11am-3pm. In addition,appointments will be available onalternate Thursdays on Muck,Rum and Canna between 11amand 3pm, depending on location.

Gill McVicar, director of opera-tions for NHS Highland’s northand west operational unit, said:“We are determined that SmallIsles residents receive primaryhealthcare services in a way thatis sustainable and which matchesneeds with resources, and feelthat this trailblazing, innovativenew model will deliver that.”

A key element of the newmodel will be the new rural sup-port team of healthcare profes-sionals NHS Highland is currentlyrecruiting.

This team, which will includeGPs, paramedic practitioners andadvanced nurse practitioners, willsupport the two Skye practicesinvolved in the Small Isles model,as well as other under-pressurepractices in remote and ruralparts of the operational unit’sarea.

Gill McVicar explained: “Theidea is to provide cover whereand when it is needed, usinghealthcare professionals flexibly.”

Chance toget update

on PMSPRESENTATIONS on pro-gress with the introductionof the Trak Patient Manage-ment System (PMS) will beheld in Inverness nextmonth.

The Trak PMS went liveacross NHS Highland inMarch but several issues re-main from Phase 1, the non-clinical phase, of the imple-mentation.

These are being resolvedwithin a formal project man-agement framework over-seen by the PMS ProgrammeExecutive Group and PMSProgramme Board.

To make employeesaware of ongoing progressand future plans and time-scales, short presentationswill be delivered by HazelMacphail in the Centre forHealth Science lecture thea-tre at 11am and 2pm on Mon-day, 8th December.

The presentations willalso update members ofstaff on the new, clinicallyfocused elements that arebeing planned as Phase 2 ofthe implementation.

Phase 2 projects withinthe programme are only be-ing progressed where thereis no demonstrable effect onthe actions being taken toremediate Phase 1.

Anyone who wished toattend via VC can dial in oneither 01463 668087 or510668087 or contactsally.bassett1@nhs.net toarrange connection.

Small Isles getsnew model

of GP provision

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The day centre’s service users pictured with some of their products

Day centre looksto bag success with

new ventureSUCCESS should be in the bag forSutherland’s latest “business” ven-ture, ‘Bagged in Brora’.

The creative initiative, by serviceusers at NHS Highland’s Beach-view Lodge Day Centre in Brora,makes a variety of products, suchas photo frames, glove puppets,greetings cards and carrier bagholders, and plans to sell them inbags made from old newspapers.

‘Bagged in Brora’ has been setup as an extension of the range ofactivities provided for the day cen-tre’s eight service users.

“We’ve been doing craftwork forsome time but we thought it wouldbe great if we gave our wee ven-ture a name and a logo, and soldour wares to the local community,”said centre manager Lindsey Ten-nent.

“We’re often surprised at the

fact that many folk in Sutherlanddon’t know we exist and we’re con-fident that Bagged in Brora willchange all that.”

The project’s first foray into themarketplace will be on 4th Decem-ber, when it will open a shop in theday centre’s foyer. After that, it’shoped to have the shop open regu-larly, initially once a week.

“The centre’s service usersbenefit hugely from interaction withthe local community and we hopethat Bagged in Brora will enhancethat,” said Lindsey.

Open five days a week, the cen-tre has a packed timetable whichincludes boccia, indoor bowls, mu-sic and movement and craftwork.In addition, three of the service us-ers have voluntary work place-ments at 2nd Best, the AlzheimerScotland charity shop in Golspie.

Financesstill a causeor concern

NHS HIGHLAND’S currentfinancial position is of“significant concern”, with apotential overspend of £8.2million projected, board mem-bers will be told at their meet-ing on 2nd December.

However, director of fi-nance Nick Kenton will fore-cast that the board willachieve financial break-evenby 31st March – as long as itdelivers savings targets andsuccessfully manages costsand service pressures, par-ticularly at Raigmore Hospital.

Mr Kenton will show thatthere had been an improve-ment of £4.1 million on theposition reported at theboard's last meeting.

“While there is still a con-siderable gap to close, a £4.1million improvement is posi-tive,” he will report.

However, he will add that“additional actions” will be re-quired to deliver financialbreak-even.

With a “challenging” sav-ings target of £22.4 millionand costs pressures estimatedat £11 million, the board wouldhave to make £33 million ofsavings to break even, MrKenton will point out that thecurrent financial forecast as-sumes that all but £2.5 millionof savings will be achieved.

In a report on the board'sfinancial recovery plan, thedirector will explain that sav-ings were being deliveredthrough a suite of plannedmeasures across the boardand through specific pro-grammes of work.

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DO you know how your family feelsabout organ donation? Do theyknow your wishes? If not, it’s timefor a wee chat.

Just saying the seven words ‘I’dlike to be an organ donor’ couldsave up to seven lives.

Forty-one per cent of Scotshave already made their wishesknown by joining the NHS OrganDonor Register, but it’s vital you tellyour family to ensure your wishesare carried out should anythinghappen to you.

Making the positive decision tobe an organ donor and sharing that

decision with your family can helpsave lives.

In Scotland, around 550 peopleare currently waiting for a trans-plant that will give them a secondchance at life and three people inthe UK die every day waiting on atransplant.

It only takes a couple of minutesto have a chat with your lovedones.

Make time for it today.To find out more about organ

donation and to join the NHS Or-gan Donor Register , v is i twww.organdonationscotland.org.

A THOUGHT-PROVOKING exhibition of photo-graphs has been mounted at the Mid Argyll Hospi-tal, Lochgilphead, in the hope that it will get peopletalking about death, dying and bereavement.

The exhibit is part of the Absent Friends Festival,which aims to encourage people to share memoriesof loved ones and help re-introduce some of thetraditions and openness around death.

The exhibition, called ‘To Absent Friends’, washeld in the hospital’s reception area and can beviewed by both staff and community alike. It was setup by the Argyll & Bute Delivering Choice Pro-gramme, which is a partnership between Marie Cu-

rie Cancer Care, Argyll & Bute Community HealthPartnership and other local partners.

Pictured from left are: Frances Flemming, treas-urer of Marie Curie Mid Argyll Fundraising Group;Lorraine Paterson, locality manager for Mid Argyll,Kintyre & Islay and Jennifer Layden, Argyll & ButeDelivering Choice Programme manager.

Hospital exhibitionputs spotlight ondeath and dying

IT has been brought to NHSHighland’s attention by HerMajesty’s Revenue and Cus-toms (HMRC) that an errorhas occurred within HMRCresulting in erroneous de-mands for unpaid income taxor refunds of income tax.

Employees are beingasked: Not to repay any under-

payment shown on the P800 Not to cash any payable

order they may have receivedEmployees will not be af-

fected by the incorrect taxcode as HMRC will issue arevised P800 before AnnualCoding.

HMRC have stated theyhope to resolve this matterbefore end of December.

Any queries should be di-rected to HMRC on 0300 2003300.

Errorswith tax

It’s time for awee chat aboutorgan donation

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As the effective date was 1st July 2014, therewill be claims made and paid which unfortu-nately have been at the higher older rate andregulations compel the Board to make recoveryof these sums and these have been made inOctober 2014. This is in compliance with Para7 of the circular.

Employees should also note that another re-view of the above mileage rates is due in No-

vember 2014 and any change to these will beimplemented from 1st January 2015. This ad-justment, if any, will be based solely on any fuelcost changes. Thereafter further reviews willoccur twice a year with possible rate changesin July and January each year.

Full details of how these rates are arrived atare contained in Section L of the AfC Termsand Conditions Handbook.

THE Scottish Government Health Departmentissued circular PCS (AfC) 2013/3 in June 2013replacing the former mileage reimbursementrates and also how business mileage is calcu-lated. Staff were informed at the time.A new circular, PCS (AFC) 2014/2, was re-

cently issued which sets out amendments tothese mileage rates payable with effect from 1st

July 2014. These rates have changed due to

the difference between the rates calculated inNovember 2013 and April/May 2014 beinggreater than five per cent, as per the nationalagreement. This revision is due to a number offactors which make up the revised rate permile, both in terms of standing charges andrunning costs for vehicles.

A table showing the old and new rates iscopied below .

Mileage rates changed

Type ofmileage

allowance

Annual mileageup to 3,500

miles

Annual mileageover 3,500

miles

All eligiblemiles

All eligiblemiles

Annual mileageover 3,500

miles

Annual mileageup to 3,500

miles

Type ofmileage

allowance

Effective 1st July 2013 Effective 1st July 2014

67p per mileCar (all fueltypes)

24p per mile 56p per mile 20p per mile

Motorcycle 33p permile

Pedal cycle 20p permile

Passengerallowance

5p permile

Reserverate

33p permile

Carryingheavy/bulkyequipment

3p permile

28p permile

28p permile

No change

No change

No change

Car (all fueltypes)

Motorcycle

Pedal cycle

Passengerallowance

Reserverate

Carryingheavy/bulkyequipment

A SPECIAL event to help peopleliving with Inflammatory BowelDisease (IBD) will be held at theCentre for Health Science in In-verness on 29th November.

The ‘Living with Ulcerative Co-litis and Crohn’s Disease’ infor-mation day will feature talks by

the NHS Highland IBT team, in-cluding Dr Lindsay Potts and Pro-fessor Angus Watson, whoseinnovative SMART technologyscheme has improved the qualityof life of people living in Highlandwith IBD. There will also be aquestion-and answer session.

Organiser Peter Canham, apatient involvement adviser forCrohn’s & Colitis UK, said: “Wewould love to see as many peo-ple with IBD and their families aspossible at this free event.”

The event will run from10.30am to 3pm.

Inverness information event to put spotlight on living with IBD

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NHS HIGHLAND staffat the John DewarBuilding in Invernessdecided to pass ontheir usual ‘dress downFriday’ at the end ofOctober—and insteadheld a Hallowe’enFancy Dress Friday.The bravest — or daft-est — employeesdoned Hallowe’en cos-tumes for the day, andtheir generous col-leagues donated £175for the Moray Firth Ra-dio ‘Cash for Kids’ ap-peal.

Fancy dressfund-raisers

IN recent weeks NHS Highlandhas been the subject of negativemedia coverage, first followingthe publication of a report by theAuditor General for Scotland onthe 2013/14 audit of NHS High-land, then following the publica-tion of the Auditor General’s re-port ‘NHS in Scotland 2013/14’and most recently following ameeting of the Scottish Parlia-ment’s public audit committee.

One of the criticisms levelledis that the NHS Highland boardshould have been formally noti-fied sooner that the authoritywould require brokerage from theScottish Government to ensurethat it would reach financial break-even at the end of the financialyear.

NHS Highland chair GarryCoutts said: “I have been disap-pointed at some of the criticismslevelled at us and wish to outlineexactly what happened with re-gard to brokerage.

“NHS Highland and the Scot-tish Government agreed on bro-kerage on 6th March 2014 andthis entered the public domain on25th March when the papers forthe 1st April meeting were pub-lished on our website.

“Details of the brokerage werealso reported in our media brief-ing on the board meeting whichwas published on 26th March.

“Our staff and senior manage-ment team are always open andaccessible to board members,local and national politicians,

members of the public and themedia. We have regular meetingswith MSPs throughout the year,at which we answer any ques-tions they may have.

“All meetings of the board andits key committees are held inpublic and all financial informa-tion is reported as timeously aspossible.

“We welcome the opportunityto speak to the Scottish Parlia-ment’s public audit committeeand to offer further reassurance.”

Mike Evans, chair of NHSHighland’s audit committee,added: “NHS Highland received acompletely clean 2013/14 auditreport from the auditors and I wastherefore surprised that it waspassed to the Auditor General.”

Board looks forwardto chance to put case

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THE team that runs Sutherland’snewest community pharmacysays the decision to open the fa-cility has been vindicated by the“great response” it has had fromthe local community.

The new pharmacy in BonarBridge is situated within a formernewsagent’s shop which hadbeen empty for several years.

But pharmacist Stacy Ander-son says it’s not just because thepharmacy has breathed new lifeinto an empty building that thecommunity has welcomed thenew venture.

She explained: “Previously,the village was served by a dis-pensing GP practice. Now, it hasa new community pharmacywhich provides, for example, mi-nor ailments, chronic medicationand smoking cessation services,and which is open on Saturdaysfrom 9am-1pm as well as duringthe week.

“We’ve been really well re-ceived and had a great responsefrom residents since we opened.”

The application to open thecommunity pharmacy wasgranted by NHS Highland’s phar-macy practices committee to Ga-reth Dixon, of Mitchells ChemistLtd.

Helen MacDonald, NHS High-land’s community pharmacy busi-ness manager, said: “The appli-cation received considerable sup-port from the community whichwas submitted to the committee,along with other evidence, fortheir consideration.

“Modern community pharma-cies offer a more comprehensiverange of services which arehighly valued but which may be anew experience for patients invery rural or remote areas wherethere has been no community

pharmacy in the past.”“As part of the integrated pri-

mary care team, GPs and phar-macists can be most effective interms of providing the highestquality patient care. Pharmacistshave a wide knowledge in thescience and use of medicinesand can help patients get themost from their medicines whileminimising the risks associatedwith taking medicines, particularlyin relation to how certain medi-cines can interact with others”.

She added that she was par-ticularly pleased that Mr Dixon,who runs two other communitypharmacy contracts in the Suth-erland area, had been able torecruit staff for the new pharmacyfrom within the local area.

Communitypharmacywelcomed

Pictured flanking pharmacist Stacy Anderson are trainee counterassistants Amber MacLennan (left) and Margaret Campbell

SNH sign up to Baby Friendly Welcome sticker campaignSCOTTISH Natural Heritage is the latest organisa-tion to pledge their support to NHS Highland’sBreastfeeding Baby Friendly Welcome StickerScheme.

The scheme is for businesses across Highlandwho wish to make their premises baby friendly andsupport breastfeeding in the Highlands. By display-ing the sticker breastfeeding women who may re-quire to be on the premises with their child knowthat they have a warm, friendly and peaceful envi-ronment where they can feed their child.

Karen Mackay, NHS Highland infant feeding ad-visor, said: “Breastfeeding offers protection againstnumerous childhood illnesses including chest,stomach and ear infections, and diabetes and child-hood obesity. There are also benefits for mums whobreastfeed including lowering their risk of breastcancer, ovarian cancer and hip fractures in later life.

“We want to change attitudes to breastfeeding tomake it the norm and I am thrilled that ScottishNatural Heritage are supporting the scheme in alltheir premises across the area.”

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A NEW peer-support service forfamilies in Highland who have achild suffering with eczema hasbeen launched by Eczema Out-reach Scotland (EOS).

The charity has started theservice in Inverness and is keento hear from families with a childunder 18 who is struggling withthe impact of the condition ontheir lives.

Alison Sweeney, peer-support manager of EOS,said: “EOS understand thateczema can have a bigimpact on a family, so thepeer-support group offersfamilies an opportunity tomeet parents/carers in asimilar situation.

“We currently have asuccessful group running inEdinburgh and we are de-lighted to now offer this tofamilies in Highland.”

As well as bringing fami-lies together, the charityoffers a support servicewhich provides help andtailored advice to the indi-vidual needs of each fam-ily. This can include informationon treatments, tips on caring for achild with eczema and advice onhealthcare plans for schools,benefits and carers rights.

The Mitchell family from Tainwere delighted when they foundout that support was available forthem after their little girl, Scarlett,was diagnosed with severe ec-zema aged only 15 months.

Mum Sarah said: “Scarlett wasborn in July last year and had red

spots over her face which devel-oped into dry, sore skin – whichwe were told was typical of ec-zema.

“Her condition only seemed toget worse as time went by and itsoon covered most of her faceand body. Little Scarlett is con-stantly itchy and will tear at anyuncovered skin until it bleeds.

She also suffers from severe foodallergies and asthma – somethingwhich is also common for peoplewith eczema.

“This means that her sleep isbadly affected, which lead to dis-turbed nights for my husband andI and our two sons.

“I was referred to the derma-tology department at Raigmorehospital and I have to say that thesupport, advice and treatment wereceive there is excellent. How-

ever, I saw a poster for the EOSwhile in the hospital and I wasthrilled to learn there was supportavailable for the whole family.”

The scheme has also securedthe backing of the dermatologydepartment at Raigmore Hospital,with NHS Highland dermatologysister Julie Morton believing thepeer-support group will be a suc-

cess.She said: “This venture

will be a welcome sup-port in Highland for themany families that arecurrently coping with ec-zema.

“Having a child witheczema can be a verystressful time and beingable to talk with othersand share ideas canmake a huge difference.”

Sarah joined EOSonline and within days,received a welcome packfrom the charity with in-formation, samples and asmall gift for Scarlett.EOS Family Supportcalled Sarah to talk about

Scarlett’s eczema and were ableto pass on some information andpractical advice about diet, laun-dry and sleep.

They also suggested the fam-ily might be eligible for disabilityliving allowance and offered tohelp them with the process.

Sarah continued: “I joined theEOS Facebook group and it hasbeen wonderful to meet otherparents out there who have simi-lar experiences.”

Eczema supportservice launched

Tain

mum

Sarah

Mitchell

and her

daughter

Scarlett,

who has

eczema

- 14 -

THE memory of a special littleboy was honoured last month asthe Kian Grant Precious Star Me-morial Trust donated the incredi-ble sum of £16,000 to the specialcare baby unit (SCBU) at Raig-more Hospital in his memory.

Kian, who sadly passed awayin October 2011 at the age of tenweeks, had spent nine weeks inthe unit after he was born 12weeks premature. The memorialtrust was set up by his family,who are from Wick, in May 2013.

Kian’s mum Hayley explainedthat it originally started when shebegan making crochet hats andselling them and it took off fromthere.

She said “I am delighted thatwe've been able to do this for theunit as a thank you for everythingthey did for Kian and us as a fam-ily.

“The response from the peopleof Caithness has been over-whelming in helping us to raisethis amount.

“They've been brilliant.“How can you thank every-

one? It’s been individuals, fami-lies, organizations, local schoolsand businesses; the list goes onand on. It’s just fantastic and I amdelighted that we’re able to dothis for the unit.”

The money is going towardsspecialist equipment for the unitand the staff couldn't be morepleased with the donation.

Alison Maclean, senior chargenurse for SCBU, said: “This is an

amazing amount that has beenraised and my heartfelt thanks goto the Grant family and everyoneelse who has helped raise thisamount.

“The generosity of everyoneinvolved is very much appreci-ated by us all and families fromacross the Highland will benefitfrom this kind gesture.”

Pictured, from left, are staffnurse Stephanie Nicol, HayleyGrant, Kara Grant and staff nursePeter King.

In lovingmemory...

MEMBERS of Mid ArgyllHospital Staff and Mac-millan Fundraising Com-mittee held another suc-cessful coffee morning toraise funds for the breastcancer campaign Wear ItPink and the local Mac-millan Day Suite at thehospital.

The fantastic sum of£2,000 was raised anddivided equally betweenthese two good causes.

The coffee morninghas been running since2007 and £15,800 hasbeen raised over thattime, with money beingdivided between the twocharities for the lastthree years.

Pictured in fancydress is Hilary Simpson,PA to the Mid ArgyllCSM, with and KathleenYoung, medical recordsofficer.

Staff in the pink to raisebreast cancer funds

- 15 -

IN line with guidance from TheScottish Government, NHS High-land will soon implement a policywhere no payment will be made toany supplier where there is noauthorised purchase order (PO).

The policy – known as ‘No PO/No Pay’ – should be fully opera-tional from 1st January 2015.

It will benefit NHS Highlandand its suppliers by improving thetime taken to pay invoices (if a POnumber is quoted), reducing proc-essing costs by cutting the num-ber of invoices requiring manualintervention. Further benefits forNHS Highland include improvingits ability to better analyse its siz-able non-pay expenditure, reduc-ing the risk of potentially fraudu-lent activity and stricter adherenceto EU and Scottish procurementregulations.

It has also been agreed thatthe use of manual PO pads withinNHS Highland will be withdrawnand that areas using them shouldbe transitioned onto the Pecosordering system. Any orders

placed on PO pads from 1st Janu-ary will be followed up with man-agers from the areas using themand pads will be removed. Ordersplaced in this way will also resultin delayed payment of invoices.

Any area still in possession ofPO pads that are no longer in useshould return these back to Pro-curement. Areas still using POpads should contact Procurementdirectly to discuss transition andtraining requirements over thecoming months.

It is recognised that there willbe areas where it isn’t practical toprovide a Purchase Order numberin advance and these will be dealtwith on a case-by-case basis. It isimportant that areas of exceptionare brought to the attention of Fi-nance as soon as possible toavoid problems occurring after 1stJanuary.

If you have any queries pleasecontact Neil Fraser in Finance atneil.fraser1@nhs.net or Neil Stew-art in Procurement at High-UHB.SuppliesDept@nhs.net

No PO/No Paypolicy schemeto be launched

PEOPLE and families af-fected by alcohol and drugaddiction will benefit from anew approach to providingeveryone with the same op-portunities for support nomatter where they live inArgyll and Bute.

The Argyll and Bute Al-cohol and Drugs Partner-ship (ADP) announced thismonth that Addiction Scot-land, one of the country’slargest specialist drug andalcohol treatment charities,had won the contracts toprovide community-basedaddiction recovery servicesfor adults across Argyll andBute for the next threeyears.

The decision underpinsthe core aims of the ADP,which are about helpingpeople to make healthierchoices about alcohol anddrugs and working to pro-tect children, families andindividuals from the harmwhich can be caused bysubstance misuse.

Christina West, chair ofthe ADP, said: “Argyll andBute Alcohol and DrugPartnership is fully commit-ted to supporting serviceusers and their families todeal with the impact ofdrugs and alcohol in theirlives and we are lookingforward to working in part-nership with Addaction andwith all sectors in thisarea."

HEALTHCARE professionals fromacross the Highlands met in Inver-ness earlier this month for theHighland Diabetes Symposium‘Stepping Forward in DiabetesManagement’, providing a chanceto share best practice and update

their knowledge and skills in thefield of diabetes.

The event, which includedpresentations, exhibitions andworkshops, was opened by Pro-fessor Sandra MacRury, NHSHighland consultant diabetologist.

Experts meet at Highland Diabetes Symposium

Recoveryservicescontract

- 16 -

LORN & Islands Hospi-tal in Oban was recentlyvisited by the CabinetSecretary for Health andWellbeing, Alex Neil.

Mr Neil and localMSP Mr Mike Russellwere accompanied on atour of the hospital byDonald Watt, clinicalservices manager,

acute, and CarolineHenderson, clinical ser-vices manager for pri-mary care.

The visiting partyalso met staff from theextended communitycare team, including

physiotherapists andoccupational therapists,and discussed the provi-sion of care in the com-munity and preventinghospital admissions.

Pictured during thevisit are Alex Neil, Mike

Russell, Donald Watt,Caroline Henderson,advanced nurse practi-tioner (A&E) MargaretMacIntyre, A&E recep-tionist Jenny Bannerand GP trainee Dr CiaraLargey.

Hospitaltour forCabinet

Secretary

A WICK hospital unit which was closed due to se-vere staffing pressures in July 2012 is being consid-ered for a new role.

The Harmsworth Unit at the Town and CountyHospital previously served patients with cognitiveand memory problems.

Now, however, it is proposed to re-open theward to provide a small number of ‘step-down’ bedsto support the discharge of patients from hospital.

The proposal follows extensive discussions onpossible options to redesign NHS Highland servicesin Caithness, a process which was launched in De-cember 2012.

The redesign has involved six separate work-streams covering, for example, Caithness GeneralHospital services, care at home provision and com-munity resilience. Presentations on the redesign’sprogress will be made in December to the referencegroup – made up of representatives of both NHSHighland and a range of stakeholder organisations– which was set up when the work started.

As part of the process, a high-level review of

healthcare facilities in Caithness has been con-ducted by an independent consultancy, Buchan +Associates, to identify potential options for improv-ing efficiency and patient flow, and for optimisingthe use of NHS premises.

NHS Highland area manager Bob Silverwoodsaid: “The redesign process, including the work bythe consultancy, has been thorough and robust andwe are beginning to see the fruits of this work withone of the suggestions being to bring theHarmsworth Unit back into service.

“Buchan + Associates’ work has confirmed whatwas already identified: that there is a need to im-prove efficiency and reduce patients’ length of stayin hospital. Using the unit to provide rehabilitationand step-down facilities for patients would help usto achieve that.”

Mr Silverwood added that details of the precisenumber of beds the unit would had yet to be deter-mined, but added that further work was taking placeand that it was hoped to have firm recommenda-tions “in the near future”.

Caithness hospital unitidentified for new role

- 17 -

NHS HIGHLAND chief executiveElaine Mead was guest at thelatest NHS Retirement Fellowship(NHSRF) committee meeting.

A varied selection of topicsarose for discussion on retire-ment issues and how the retire-ment fellowship could focus oursupport for recently retired NHSworkers both local to Invernessand within the Highland region.

The Highland branch of thefellowship has almost 70 mem-bers, about half of whom attendregularly.

The fellowship has a welfareofficer who keeps in touch bytelephone with members whocan’t attend due to ill health orwho just want to keep up with itsactivities.

The branch committee alwaystries to introduce diverse activi-ties at its meetings and this yearit has had an ‘alternative thera-pist’ and someone from a localgarden centre come to speak tomembers, and has held an‘Antiques Roadshow’ and a meet-ing where mental health issueswere discussed.

At the November meetingmembers were entertained by afoot-stomping local fiddle group.

On 1st December the groupwill meet at the Kingsmills Hotelin Inverness for a Christmaslunch which is always well at-tended by members, partnersand friends.

On 5th January there will be a

mystery speaker and the fellow-ship is planning a mixture ofspeakers during 2015, with talksubjects ranging from the Clydepuffers to the slave trade.

On 11th May 2015 the fellow-ship will celebrate its 30th anni-versary with music and merry-making, and it is hoped thatmembers of the Elgin branch willalso be able to attend the get-together.

June will see a coach tripwhich will finish the fellowship’syear in readiness to begin againafter the summer holidays.

The group has met andgreeted about half a dozen newmembers since September andfeels that the atmosphere at itsmeetings is friendly – and occa-

sionally raucous!There are areas within NHS

Highland’s region that are notcovered by a local branch of thefellowship and the organisationwants retired NHS staff to comeforward to set up new localbranches.

If you would like a branch nearyou contact the Scottish develop-ment officer, Mrs Maggie Haver-g a l , o n m c u d d i -hy117@btinternet.com or SherrySmith, from the NHS RetirementFellowship head office atsherry.smith@dhuft.nhs.uk.

Alternatively, you contact thegroup via the NHSRF website,which gives information about allthe organisation’s branches inScotland.

RETIREMENT FELLOWSHIP: Wide range of issues on agenda

Highland branchhas busy time ahead

- 18 -

THE ‘Best Employer’ award in theDentistry Scotland Awards hasgone to a general dental practitio-ner with clinics throughout thenorth of Scotland.

Dr John Barry runs both theDunbar Dental Clinic and Brid-gend Dental Practice in Thurso,as well as The Rosedene Clinicin Inverness and Earl’s PalaceDental Clinic in Kirkwall, employ-ing more than 50 members ofstaff in all.

In nominating Dr Barry for theaward, staff at the Dunbar clinicsaid he had been “inspirational”in building up the clinic and hadbeen “very hands-on” in deliver-

ing training and offering support.They added: “Dr Barry has

always delivered exceptional pa-tient care and demands similarfrom all those who work with him,thereby instilling a culture of de-livering quality which is reflectedin the exceptional productivity atthe clinic.

“Dr Barry knows that to be

able to provide an optimum ser-vice to our patients he must at-tract and retain the best people.

“This means he needs to un-derstand his employees, theirrequirements, perceptions andaspirations and how thesechange at different stagesthroughout their careers.

“Dr Barry has an inclusive andpositive approach to leading hisworkforce and would never askanyone to do anything that hewould not be prepared to do him-self.”

The awards ceremony washeld earlier this month in the Mar-riott Hotel, Glasgow.

‘Best employer’ winner in Dentistry Awards

AN ‘Introduction to Qualitative Research’course will be held at the Centre for Health

Science, Inverness, on Thursday, 11th December.To be presented by Frances Hines, NHS High-

land’s research, development and innovation man-ager, the course will run from 9.30am-4pm.

Over the past few years, government depart-ments, funding bodies and lead researchers havebegun to recognise the contribution that qualitativeresearch methods can make to health care provi-sion. However, there is also recognition that quali-tative research is not an easy option. It requiresboth knowledge of principles and techniques aswell as insight and creativity.

This course will introduce people to the under-lying principles of qualitative research, along withits advantages and disadvantages. It will coverresearch methodologies and approaches, discuss,develop and critically analyse research questions,and consider different research tasks and skills.

An application form for this study day can befound on the NHS Highland Intranet under theheading Staff > Research and Development. If youdo not have access to the intranet emaillaura.mcilhatton@nhs.net

Qualitative research course

- 19 -

A new information booklet has been prepared for patients who have referred to Raigmore’s CardiacCatheterisation Laboratory – the ‘Cath Lab’. The ‘Preparing for the Cath Lab’ booklet introducespatients to the Cath Lab team, gives them instructions on preparation for a procedure, advisedthem of the procedure itself and of possible side effects, and gives contact details for further infor-mation. Pictured are members of the Cath Lab team, which includes cardiologists, nurses, cardiacphysiologists and radiographers.

NHS Highland and police worktogether in ‘legal highs’ drive

NHS HIGHLAND and Police Scotland have teamedup to warn people about the dangers of substancemisuse, particularly psychoactive substances, com-monly known as legal highs.

Local NHS teams have become aware of an in-crease in their use and growing concerns in thecommunity about reported sales of psychoactivesubstances.

Teresa Green, East Caithness integrated teamleader and mental health services manager for NHSHighland, said: “We are very concerned about thereported sale of legal highs and are aware of grow-ing concerns among the local community.

“The expression ‘legal highs’ somehow leadspeople to thinking that these substances are safe.In fact, we do not know what is in many of them and

therefore cannot say whether or not they are safe.“Furthermore, the people who buy them, often

through the internet, can have no guarantee what isin them or what their effects can be, both physicallyand psychologically.

“We will continue to monitor the impact of theiruse locally so that we are able to provide the neces-sary support to those using them. I would adviseanyone who has concerns about drugs to contactthe relevant organisations for advice and support.”

Caithness Area Inspector Nick Clasper said: “Aswe draw ever closer to the festive season, our aimis to keep people safe and I would urge people toavoid such products and report any information tothe police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anony-mously on 0800 555 111."

Cath Lab issues information booklet

- 20 -

NHS HIGHLAND’S annual ‘Heartof the Matter’ Cardiology Sympo-sium was held in Inverness ear-lier this month.

The event included a range ofspeakers and poster presenta-tions giving delegates the oppor-tunity to share learning.

Nicole Mearns, cardiac educa-tion co-ordinator for NHS High-land, said: “Presentations in-cluded looking at the links be-tween atrial fibrillation, the mostcommon cardiac arrhythmia, andstroke risk; the top 10 rules of

chest pain assessment; and apatient’s perspective from a pri-mary and secondary care view-point.”

Other presentations includedlooking at the importance of clini-cal guidelines; how angina istreated; and what interventions,whether they are medicinal orequipment based, can be used.

There was also a ‘Consultant’sQuestion Time’, where those at-tending could ask an expert panelquestions on cardiology care andtreatment.

THREE NHS Highland manag-ers in Argyll and Bute took

part in last month’s Great Scot-tish Run in Glasgow.

Chr ist ina West, newly-appointed chief officer for theHealth & Social Care Partnership,Lorraine Paterson, locality man-ager for Mid Argyll, Kintyre & Is-lay and Linda Skrastin, clinicalservices manager, Helensburgh,all have family, friends and col-leagues who have been diag-nosed with breast cancer, so de-cided to take part in the run to

raise money for BreakthroughBreast Cancer.

It was very much a team effortand the threesome stayed to-gether throughout the run, cross-ing the finishing line together.

No time records were broken,but a great sense of achievementwas felt and together they raised£650 for the charity.

They would like to thank eve-rybody who sponsored them, andthey enjoyed themselves somuch they are planning a repeatperformance next year.

At the heart of the matter

AN NHS Highland care home inGairloch has been awarded£3,000 after the local communityvoted for them in a national fund-raiser.

Strathburn House came out ontop in the West Highland sectionof the Bank of Scotland Commu-nity Fund by scooping over 41 percent of the public vote.

The scheme is run in an effortto help local communities thriveand over 230,000 votes were castacross Scotland.

A total of 232 causes havebeen funded by the initiative, with1,600 votes collected in WestHighland. Votes were cast inBank of Scotland branches acrossthe country, by text message andon Twitter.

“We were absolutely delightedto find out that we had beenawarded £3,000,” said care homemanager Hazel Fraser. “We werenominated by the daughter of amarried couple who are residentshere and are overwhelmed thatthe local community has taken thetime out of their busy lives to votefor us.

“We will use the money to buysensory equipment for our resi-dents who suffer from dementia,as it can help bring them enor-mous comfort.

“It is a wonderful feeling toknow we are very much appreci-ated in our own community andthat people respect the work wedo here. I would like to take thisopportunity to thank those whovoted for us – your generosity isgreatly appreciated by everyonehere at Strathburn House.”

Public votessecure cash forNHS Highland

care home

- 21 -

PUBLIC holiday dates for2015/16 have been agreed by theHighland Partnership Forum andare as follows:

NHS Highland(excluding Argyll & ButeCHP):

Friday 3rd April 2015 (Good Fri-day)Monday 4th May 2015 (May BankHoliday)Monday 3rd August 2015(Summer)Friday 16th October 2015(Autumn)Friday 25th December 2015(Christmas)Monday 28th December 2015(Christmas)Friday 1st January 2016 (NewYear)Monday, 4th January 2016 (NewYear)

Adult social care

Adult social care (the transferredformer Highland Council staff)have seven fixed which followNHS Highland with the addition ofEaster Monday and seven float-ing days which in practice areadded to their annual leave.

Friday 3rd April 2015 (Good Fri-day)Monday 6th April 2015 (EasterMonday)Monday 4th May 2015 (May BankHoliday)Friday 25th December 2015(Christmas)Monday 28th December 2015(Christmas)Friday 1st January 2016 (NewYear)Monday, 4th January 2016 (NewYear)

Argyll & Bute BodyCorporate (health staff)

Friday 3rd April 2015 (Good Fri-day)Monday 6th April 2015 (EasterMonday)Monday 4th May 2015 (May BankHoliday)Monday 28th September 2015(Summer)Friday 25th December 2015(Christmas)Monday 28th December 2015(Christmas)Friday 1st January 2016 (NewYear)Monday, 4th January 2016 (NewYear)

Hospital fundingis announced

THE provision of new hospitalsin both Skye, Lochalsh &South West Ross and Bade-noch and Strathspey took astep forward earlier this monthwith the announcement by theScottish Government of fund-ing for the projects.

Deputy First Minister NicolaSturgeon revealed that £20million of community healthprojects in Highland, includingboth Badenoch & Strathspeyand Skye, Lochalsh & SouthWest Ross, featured in a £409million package to fund newhospitals and health centresacross the country.

The funding would coverthe capital cost of the pro-posed new facilities, thoughNHS Highland stressed thatthe green light for them hadyet to be given.

Informationday on IBD

A SPECIAL event to on livingwith Inflammatory Bowel Dis-ease (IBD) will be held at theCentre for Health Science, In-verness, on , 29th November.

The open information day,entitled ‘Living with UlcerativeColitis and Crohn’s Disease’,will feature talks by the NHSHighland IBT team, includingDr Lindsay Potts and Profes-sor Angus Watson, whose in-novative SMART technologyscheme has improved thequality of life of people living inHighland with IBD.

There will also be a ques-tion-and-answer session andnetworking opportunities.

The event will run from10.30am-3pm.

2015/16 publicholidays agreed

NHS HIGHLAND has been informed that Dr Lavery and Dr Chapmanwill be resigning from Tobermory GP practice, with effect from 31stMay 2015.

The board will ensure that there is continuity of the GP service fol-lowing this date will be working closely with the Mull and Iona HealthCare Review Group to develop a sustainable model for GP provisionin and out of hours on Mull and Iona.

GPs plan to resign from island practice

- 22 -

No SmokingDay event takesthe honours inBHF contest

NHS HIGHLAND has won themost Unusual/Innovative Eventcategory in the British HeartFoundation’s (BHF) No SmokingDay Organiser of the Year com-petition.

On No Smoking Day, FionaDuncan hosted a premiere of ashort feature, The Last Cigarette,at a local cinema. The documen-tary, which stars pupils ofDunoon Grammar School andincludes a cameo from actorDavid Hayman, focused on theno-smoking theme.

Liz Peat, oral health improve-ment manager in the Public Den-tal Service at Argyll and ButeCHP, said: “My congratulationsgo to Fiona Duncan, oral healthimprovement practitioner, andMairi Thomson, principal teacherof Performing Arts. I would alsothank Shooters for their input andsupport and the Drama studentsof Dunoon Grammar and Rothe-say Academy music department.

“This was a true, joint workingventure to develop a local oralhealth and smoking cessationresource with the support of ourlocal Health and Wellbeing part-ners and the Dunoon community.We hope our resource will inspire

and encourage individuals to stopsmoking or not to start smoking inthe first place.”

Mairi Thomson added: “Thestudents from Dunoon GrammarSchool had a great time makingthe film and learned a lot aboutthe dangers of smoking.

“The film was also shown to allpupils in the school on No Smok-ing Day and had a great impact,encouraging discussion and rais-ing awareness about the conse-quences of starting to smoke.

Students are already planning fornext year's project in conjunctionwith local health professionals.”

Marjory Burns, director at BHFScotland, said: “Two-thirds ofsmokers want to quit, but manyfind the task daunting.

“The work of No Smoking Dayorganisers is vital in helping themget the support and advice theyneed to quit for good. NHS High-land impressed us with their en-thusiasm, originality and, ulti-mately, their success in helpingsmokers quit.”

The winners received a certifi-cate and vouchers to spend inthe No Smoking Day shop on re-sources for their event on NoSmoking Day 2015.

NO Smoking Day 2015 will be held on 11th March and will havea ‘Proud to be a Quitter’ theme, which is set to inspire hun-dreds of thousands of smokers to believe in their ability toquit. To get involved or to receive information and support onstopping smoking visit nosmokingday.org.uk.

Photograph courtesy of the Dunoon Observer

QUOTE

We hope ourresource willinspire andencourageindividuals

to stopsmoking ornot to startsmoking in

the firstplace

- 23 -

FIVE community pharmacies andtwo dispensing GP practices inNHS Highland’s area are to takepart in a major national initiativeto prevent avoidable harmcaused by medicines.

NHS Highland is one of fourhealth boards in Scotland chosento take part in a two-year pro-gramme which, it is hoped, willhelp to reduce the incidence ofharm associated with medicines.

The board successfully ap-plied to participate in the ScottishPatient Safety Programme Phar-macy in Primary Care initiativeand has recruited seven pilotsites to take part in it.

Three community pharmacies,in Brora, Bowmore on Islay andArgyll Pharmacy in Lochgilphead,will take part as will two jointcommunity pharmacy and dis-pensing practice teams: KylePharmacy in Kyle of Lochalshand Acharacle Medical Practice,and Boots Pharmacy in Ullapooland Scourie & KinlochbervieMedical Practice.

The first year of the nationalproject will focus on high-riskmedicines, and NHS Highlandhas selected non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs),which are more likely to be asso-ciated with emergency hospitaladmissions due to adverse drugreactions than any other class ofmedicines.

NHS Highland hopes the pro-ject will help to make the use ofthese particular drugs safer, andpoints out that a previous project

in the board’s area demonstratedthat safety could be improved bya pharmacist reviewing NSAIDprescribing.

The second year of the initia-tive will see joint work by pharma-cies, GP practices and hospitalson what is known as medicinesreconciliation – ensuring that ac-curate information about a pa-tient’s medication is transferredany time a patient is transferredfrom one healthcare setting toanother.

Clare Morrison, the NHS High-land lead pharmacist who issteering the initiative for theboard, said: “As well as improving

medicines safety in primary care,we hope this project will raiseawareness of the safety culturethat exists in pharmacies and willlead to improved communicationbetween pharmacists, GPs andhospitals.

“We see this as a good-newsstory for NHS Highland as ourselection to pilot this nationalwork reflects the good work wehave already undertaken to im-prove medicines safety.

“But more particularly, it is agood-news story for patients, as itwill undoubtedly lead to a reduc-tion in avoidable harm from medi-cines in primary care.”

DRUGS: Pharmacies and dispensing practices in national initiative

NHS Highland chosenfor medicines safety pilot

Radiographers’ study dayTHE first MR Highland radiographers study day was held earlier thismonth in the Centre for Health Sciences, Inverness.

Radiologists, radiographers and physicists delivered a full day oflectures to the 45 radiographers from across Scotland who attendedon the day.

Muriel Cockburn, superintendent radiographer at NHS Highland,explained that the day provided a much-needed MR educational fo-rum with very positive feedback from all that attended.

She said: “I am delighted that the radiographers have embracedthis and hopefully we will be able to continue to develop and supportfuture study days.

“Feedback was very positive with one consultant radiologist fromNHS Grampian being extremely complimentary and recommendingthat trainee radiologists should attend the next meeting.

“A day like this cannot be delivered without the support of others,delegates, speakers, sponsors and catering. A special thanks goes toDr Flont, Dr Shannon, Dr Miller and Andrew Hince, who all gave uptheir Saturday to support us.

“Catering was also a great success. Thanks to one of NHS High-lands unsung heroes Connie who delivered great food and servicethroughout the day.”

- 24 -

THE Care Inspectorate andHealthcare Improvement Scot-land are inspecting social workand healthcare services for olderadults (65-plus) and carers inHighland.

They want to find out abouthow well our services are improv-ing the lives of older adults andcarers

To do this they will: read written information

(files and records) about someolder adults and carers speak with older adults and

carers and listen to their views speak with staff about the

services they provide, and thedifference it makes to the lives ofolder people and their carers.

Inspectors have opened a staffsurvey via Survey Monkey.

This is for all staff involved inthe treatment, care and supportof people aged 65-plus to openlygive their views about the ser-vices available for older people inHighland. Responses are anony-mous; and taking part is encour-aged.

On top of this, Highland hasprovided inspectors with evi-dence of how we currently pro-vide services for older people.We have also given them infor-mation upon which to decide thecase files and health records theywill inspect.

The key dates in the comingmonths are the three weekswhere inspectors will visit High-land.

These are the weeks begin-ning: 19th January 2015, when100 social work case files andrelated health records will be in-spected; 16th February 2015,when around 20 cases will be‘followed up’ by inspectors whowill speak to the older people,their carers and the professionalsinvolved in their care; and 2nd

March 2015, when interviews willbe held with a range of post-holders in Highland, including fo-cus groups of staff.

Ultimately inspectors will writeand publish a report describingwhat they find out about servicesfor older people in Highland.

Services forolder adults

being inspected

Vale of LevenC-diff report

A REPORT into the Vale ofLeven Hospital inquiry, con-ducted following the C. difficiledeaths there, can be accessedonline.

The inquiry, which began itswork in October 2009, was initi-ated to investigate the circum-stances contributing to the oc-currence and rates of C. diff atthe hospital from 1st October,with a particular focus on 2st De-cember 2007 to 1st June 2008.

The terms of reference of theinquiry covered leadership andgovernance, nursing and medi-cal care, antimicrobial prescrib-ing, death certification, and in-spection and scrutiny. The reportwill have implications for thewider NHS in Scotland and theScottish Government Health andSocial Care Directorate.

It can be accessed at: http://www.valeoflevenhospitalinquiry.org/

Fire policy reviewNHS HIGHLAND is in the proc-ess of revising its fire safety pol-icy, in part to ensure that it accu-rately reflects the situation post-integration.

The widest possible staff con-sultation will be critical and withthis aim in mind, staff are beinginvited to provide comments onthe draft policy, particularlywhere it appears it does not ade-quately address the service, de-partment or area where the staffmember works.

The draft fire safety policy canbe found on the intranet.

Constructive commentsshould be sent to fire safety advi-sor to Andy Knox(andy.knox@nhs.net) by 5thJanuary 2015.

Smoking challengeNHS HIGHLAND’S board meet-ing ON 2ND December will beinformed that a range of work isunder way to ensure that NHSHighland fulfils the Scottish Gov-ernment's tobacco control strat-egy “that all NHS boards will im-plement and enforce smoke-freegrounds by March 2015”.

A report will explain that NHSHighland has 24 hospitals, butthat the strategy covers all build-ings.

It will also state that the big-gest challenge will be to imple-ment the policy in RaigmoreHospital.

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A ROSS-SHIRE care home hasrecently made history after a stu-dent dietitian completed her uni-versity placement there.

Catherine Tosh (20) becamethe first student dietitian in Scot-land to undertake a placement ina care home setting, at UrrayHouse in Muir of Ord.

“I’ve really enjoyed spendingmy five week placement here asit has given me an opportunity tocontinue my development in adifferent environment,” said Cath-erine.

“It is absolutely vital to main-tain a good diet and stay hy-drated regardless of your age,but perhaps even more so as weget older. Undertaking my place-ment at Urray House has enabledme to support the staff here –particularly those who work in thekitchen.

“The food here is excellentand the chef has a real interest infood and nutrition – so for her tobe able to have a chat with meand a fresh pair of eyes has beenmutually beneficial.

“It feels quite strange to bethe first in Scotland to have com-pleted a placement in a carehome, but it was great to takesome more responsibility for myworking and I suppose it will alsohelp me to stand out when Igraduate!”

The placement is the result ofan agreement forged betweenRobert Gordon University andNHS Highland led by nutritionand dietetics advisor for carehomes, Evelyn Newman – and

could signal the beginning of along-term working relationshipbetween higher education estab-lishments and care homes acrossScotland.

Evelyn explained: “Food, fluidand nutrition are recognised ascrucial elements of good careand in creating a strong sense ofwellbeing – not just in a carehome environment, but acrossthe NHS – and the basics of die-tetics can be studied and devel-oped in any of these settings.

“I hope that Catherine is thefirst of many young dietitians whowant to work in a care home set-ting and help to deliver a nutritionand dietetic service to supportboth staff and residents.”

She added: “The learning fromthe audit and Catherine’s work isactively being shared across carehomes, both in Highland andmore widely across Scotland byNES and RGU, which will benefitmany more residents in future.”

CATHERINE spent two days a week at Urray House over thefive-week period from 14th October.

During this time she carried out an audit of nutritional careplans, completed a case study review of a resident, presentedher findings to staff and dietetic colleagues, and developedher communication skills and understanding of the chal-lenges in engaging with residents who have dementia.

Catherine and the home’s activities co-ordinator, FionaBarclay, also spent a few hours trying to tap into memories ofseven residents by asking them to discuss their recollectionsof mealtimes, special occasions and their favourite foods.

The residents were asked to help create a favourite menuand Urray House’s cook, Muriel Fotheringham, helped to pre-pare it for a themed day on Catherine’s last day. It comprisedScotch broth, rabbit stew and clootie dumpling. Residentsand staff were asked for their views about the lunch.

Denise Scott, manager at Urray House, said: “Having a fo-cused discussion around food memories is a great way of en-gaging with dementia residents and their families, giving thema voice in choosing their favourite menus and following upwith a themed meal, where staff dress up to serve the food.Everyone can participate have fun and enjoy the memory.”

Student helps to givecare home’s residents

food for thought

CATHERINE TOSH

- 26 -

TOMMY WHITELAW visited NHS Highland onceagain last month as part of his inspirational cam-paign to raise awareness of the difficulties of caringfor a loved one with dementia.

Tommy, from Glasgow, was a full-time carer forhis mother, Joan, after her diagnosis of vasculardementia until her death in September 2012.

Last year, Tommy toured Highland as part of his‘Tommy on Tour’ campaign and collected hundredsof letters and emails from fellow carers in a bid tohelp them realise they weren’t alone on their jour-ney.

His campaign to raise awareness of the difficul-ties carers often face captured the attention of politi-cians, football clubs and workplaces across thecountry and in December 2012, the Scottish Gov-ernment awarded two years funding for Tommy tocarry out a new campaign, the ‘Dementia CarerVoices Project’.

Tommy began his Highland odyssey in Fort Wil-liam with a series of talks at the Belford Hospitalbefore a trek north to Caithness General Hospital inWick. The Centre of Health Science in Invernesswas his penultimate destination before his 14th andfinal talk of his trip was delivered in the Lorn andIslands Hospital in Oban.

“The highlight of my time in Highland was hear-ing about the wonderful and innovative work that istaking place across the health board,” said Tommy.

“I hope that by travelling across the country andspeaking to people about my experience that it en-courages health professionals to take a moment tothink about how they deliver care and what, if any-thing, they could do better to improve the treatmentand support we provide to people with dementiaand their carers in Scotland.”

Tommy takes those in attendance on an emo-tional rollercoaster as he talks candidly about hisexperiences as a carer for his mother: from her ini-tial diagnosis through to all the ‘forever moments’he and his mother shared on her journey.

Tommy said: “It never gets any easier standing

up and telling strangers my mother’s story, but I cansafely say the minute that it does is when I stop.

“It’s hard to fight back the tears as I tell the storyof how each and every time my mother recogniseda face or story could be the last time she ever did –what I call ‘forever moments’.

“But the real story is the thousands of letters,emails and tweets I receive from people across thecountry who, like me, have had their lives alteredforever by this horrible illness. There are 670,000people who care for a loved one with dementiaacross the UK and this campaign is about givingthem the recognition they deserve.

“We have secured pledges from Paul Gray, thechief executive of NHS Scotland and many othersenior figures in Government to help support thesepeople. We hope that by ensuring these pledgesare followed through, we can really make a positivedifference to their lives.”

NHS Highland dementia nurse consultant RuthMantle said: “It was wonderful having Tommy backin Highland once again and we’re delighted he en-joyed hearing about the work we’re undertaking inour area.

“There was fantastic turnouts in all of the venueswhich shows there is a real appetite from healthprofessionals to understand more about dementiaand help them to improve the level of care and sup-port people living with the condition and their carersreceive.”

For more information on Tommy’s DementiaCarer Voices Project, have a look on Twitter@dementiacarervo.

Tommy takes tothe road to raise

awareness ofdementia issues

Tommy Mantle with dementia nurse consultantRuth Mantle

- 27 -

THE NHS Highland MidRoss community mentalhealth team and a service

user led group known as ‘Ross-shire Game Changers’ havejoined forces with Ross CountyFootball Club in a bid to kick outthe stigma attached to peoplewith a mental health illness.

The mental health team, whoin the past have trialled innova-tive pilots aimed at promotinghealthy lifestyle activities for peo-ple attending their service, havesecured funding via See Me –Scotland’s national programme toend mental health stigma anddiscrimination.

As part of the campaign, ser-vice users will be given access tothe Staggies’ community coach-ing and development team, whowill deliver two-hour long ses-sions once a week until April.

These sessions are designedto give service users an insightinto a wide variety of sport andleisure activities, as well as en-couraging them to lead class-room sessions to members of thepublic to help improve under-standing of mental ill-health.

NHS Highland community psy-chiatric nurse and team leaderHelen Neville said: “Ross-shireGame Changers aims to explorehow people in our communityhave been impacted by thestigma attached to mental ill-health and empower those peo-ple to create a meaningful cam-paign that the public can engagewith.

“Being such a huge part of thecommunity here in Ross-shire,Ross County were an obvioustarget for us to work with to raisethe profile of this campaign andwe are absolutely thrilled theyhave agreed to join us in helpingpeople to understand the stigmapeople can face in their every-day lives.”

Charlie McPhee, Ross CountyFC’s community and youthcoach, said: “This is a great na-tional programme, with the pro-ject that we have come up withhere in Ross-shire being the firstof its kind in terms of linking witha football club.

“Everyone here at RossCounty is delighted that we havea chance to play a big part in thiscampaign. Mental health issuescan affect anyone and we are

really keen to help beat thestigma that can be attached to it.”

Mrs Neville continued: “One infour of us will experience a men-tal health problem at some timein our lives and three quarters ofus know someone with a mentalhealth problem.

“We hope that through thisinitiative, we can help people tosee that a mental health conditioncould affect anyone in the com-munity at any time.”

TEAMING UP: Game Changers join forces with Ross County FC

Staggies helpMid Ross team

to tackle mentalhealth stigma

- 28 -

A ONE-DAY workshop aimed atcreating proactive opportunitiesfor young people in transitionwas held in Inverness thismonth.

Organised by the HighlandCreations Worship, ‘Realising aCommunity Adventure’ broughttogether community groups,health professionals and pupilsof Inverness Royal Academy todevelop ideas on how to createopportunities for these youngpeople to feel valued in theircommunities.

There was also a presentationfrom Lochaber community pro-ject Nimble Fingers, who show-cased how they have developedcreative opportunities for peoplein that community to share skills,socialise and create meaningfulthings to do.

NHS Highland self-directedsupport manager JenniferCampbell said: “Nimble Fingershave a clear vision of creating

opportunities for young people intransition and people with dis-abilities to share skills in the lo-cal community.

“Their interactive workshopsand the stall were a real hit andresulted in some really positivefeedback on how we can repli-cate similar ideas in Invernessand across Highland.

“I believe that we made alasting impact particularly on the

principal of learning support andthe pupils who attended fromInverness Royal Academy. Theywill undoubtedly ensure that theidea grows into something biggerin their area.

“There were further discus-sions around moving forwardssimilar ideas in Golspie andNairn and it is our intention to dosome work in the far north earlyin the New Year.”

THE Presiding Officer for theScottish Government, TriciaMarwick, visited Nimble Fingers’headquarters this month.

Fort William was the home ofthe Scottish Parliament for theday when the Presiding Officerand two committees met localorganisations in the town.

And the Presiding Officerstopped by Braxie Hall in Inver-lochy to see how this innovativesocial enterprise has developedopportunities for young people intransition.

Programme manager LynJohnson said: “We were thrilled

to welcome such a prestigiousguest and were pleased to showoff some of the things that wehave been working hard tomake.

“We have received a lot ofrecognition for this project, how-

ever to get such positive feed-back from the Scottish Govern-ment is overwhelming. Thereare a number of wonderful socialenterprises across Scotland whomake such a difference to peo-ple’s lives and we’re delighted toplay our part.

“We also had the opportunityto add a stitch to the Great Tap-estry of Scotland, which tells thestory of our country from aunique perspective and hasseen over 1000 volunteers con-tribute to one of the biggestcommunity art projects in theworld.”

Elaine Mead (centre) at the Nimble Fingers stall

Opportunitiesfor young people

in transition

Nimble Fingers showcases work to Presiding Officer

Tricia Marwick with LynJohnson

- 29 -

TWO NHS Highland midwives are in the running fornational awards.

Mairi Milne, acting team lead with NHS High-land’s Skye and Lochalsh midwifery team, is in ashortlist of three for one of the categories in theRoyal College of Midwives’ (RCM) Annual Mid-wifery Awards 2014.

She is joined as an award hopeful by MariaAnderson, a senior charge midwife in the Raigmorelabour ward. Maria is on secondment as a practiceeducator with NHS Education for Scotland (NES)and is part of a three-member team whose innova-tive Compassionate Connections Story Worlds re-source is shortlisted for an RCM Award in the‘Evidence into Practice’ category.

Mairi Milne features in the ‘Supervisor of Mid-wives’ category, having been nominated by col-league Ella Schofield on behalf of the team. She’sthe only midwife from Scotland on the shortlist.

One of the team members, midwife Fiona Mac-Callum, said: “Mairi is an extremely dedicated mid-wife, manager and supervisor. She is so supportiveto us all and is always contactable for any query, nomatter how big or small it may be.

“She is very much the lynchpin of the team andis always ready to help.”

Mairi said: “I was both shocked and delighted tohave been nominated and then shortlisted for whatis a prestigious award in midwifery. I see it as agreat honour not just for me but for the team and forNHS Highland.”

The award is made to a supervisor who has“demonstrated outstanding support to midwives inthe development of their skills and expertise to en-sure excellent care for mothers and their babies”.

Maria Anderson, who is also a supervisor of mid-wives, works in a team of three practice educatorsacross Scotland – the North of Scotland being herarea.

She said: “The Compassionate ConnectionsStory Worlds learning resource is an innovative,evidence-based approach to teaching and learning.The resource provides a way of teaching theory

through stories that are real, relevant and embed-ded in practice.”

Using storytelling as a mechanism for reflection,learners are encouraged to explore the ways inwhich personal values influence behaviour and theimpact this has on the way care is given and experi-enced by service users and staff.

Maria continued: “We are delighted to be recog-nised for our efforts and view the nomination as awonderful honour. Hopefully, we can now push onand highlight our learning resource to a wider audi-ence.”

The winners will be announced at an awardslunch to be held in London on 3rd March andcompered by TV news personality Kate Silverton.

Midwives shortlistedfor national awards

Mairi Milne pictured in the foreground withcolleague Ella Schofield, who nominated heron behalf of the Skye and Lochalsh midwiferyteam

- 30 -

Do you know of something you think

should be featured in Highlights? An

award, an achievement, a piece of

research, an appointment, a retiral …

you name it, Highlights has a place

for it. Please send your articles for

Highlights to tom.davison@nhs.net

(01463 704903) or visit the Staff

Dropbox on the NHS Highland intra-

net home page.

What’s your story? Keep Highlights informed

How we aregearing up for any

potential Ebolacases in Highland

You can follow NHS Highland on: Website - www.nhshighland.scot.nhs.uk; Facebook - https://

www.facebook.com/NHSHighland; Twitter –www.twitter.com/NHSHighland or @NHSHighland

THIS time last year NHS High-land launched SHARE – TheScottish Health Research Reg-ister.

Currently more 43,000 peo-ple have joined SHARE in Scot-land. However, NHS Highlandwould like to further boost itscontribution to this figure.

SHARE has been created toestablish a register of peopleinterested in participating inhealth research across thewhole of Scotland, and is sup-ported by the Scottish Govern-ment and every Scottish healthboard.

By joining the register indi-viduals agree to provide secureaccess to their medical recordsand in doing so give permissionto be contacted to see if theywish to take part in any futureresearch studies. There is noobligation to take part in anyparticular study; you choosewhich studies you would like tohelp with. This could be any-thing from filling in a question-naire, being a healthy volunteeror taking part in study about aspecific health condition whichyou may have.

To register, visit:www.registerforshare.org

Call to join the

SHARE register

THE NHS Highland board will betold at its meeting on 2nd Decem-ber how the Ebola crisis in WestAfrica was creating “significantpressure” on NHS Highland's in-fection control and preventionteam.

The team, and others within theorganisation, was working to en-sure that the board was preparedto care for a potential Ebola casein Highland.

“This is a high priority and as aresult is creating a significantpressure on team resources,” areport to the board will state.

An Ebola preparedness work-ing group had been set up and ismeeting fortnightly. Meetings arechaired by Dr Jonty Mills, consult-ant microbiologist/infection controldoctor, and has a wide range ofmembers.

Furthermore, all operation units

have conducted a “walk-through”exercise to identify where poten-tial Ebola patients would be caredfor, and a “table-top” exercise hasbeen conducted at Raigmore Hos-pital.

Personal protective equipmentis in place throughout NHS High-land, board members will be told,and a training plan was being de-veloped.

NHSmail surveyTHE NHSmail user survey is openuntil 5th December.

If you haven’t responded yet,click on the link below to completet h e s u r v e y : h t t p s : / /www. su rveymonkey . com/s /NHSmailusersurvey2014

The results of the survey will bepublished in January 2015.

- 31 -

What do you do, Kerry?I support the AHP associate di-rector with all areas of work.

How would you describe your-self?I have a good sense of humour,I am enthusiastic and reliable,and I am the mother of a daugh-ter and a puppy!

Do you have any hobbies andinterests?Running, fitness, reading, eatingout, run a youth club for teenag-ers and working towards mypsychology degree.

What was the first single youever bought?T’pau – China in your Hand.

What is your favourite food?Pizza.

And your favourite film?Good Will Hunting or Iron Man.

How about your favourite TVprogramme?24

And your favourite book is?

Little Woman by Louise May Al-cott.

If you won £10 million in thelottery, what would you spendit on?Travelling, charity and givesome to my family and friends.

What about a smaller sum,say £1,000?I would buy another puppy!

What are you pet hates?Spitting, bad manners andmoody people.

If you could have dinner withthree people, who they be andwhat would you cook them?Robert Downey Jr, Ricky Ger-vais and Kiefer Sutherland andwe would have wine, cocktailsand nibbles!

What are the best and worstparts of your job?The best is working with a greatteam who are very supportiveand enjoyable to work with. Theworst is that each day is differentwhich can ruin my plans for theday!

Answering the questions this monthis Kerry Glen, PA to the associate director

of AHPs

Board to begiven update onintegration in

Argyll and ButeMEMBERS of the NHS Highlandboard will be briefed at theirmeeting on Tuesday, 2nd De-cember on progress with the es-tablishment of the Argyll andBute Health and Social CarePartnership.

In April this year the boardendorsed proposals to integratehealth and adult social carethrough what is known as a“body corporate” model.

Now, the board will be told,Christina West, NHS Highland'sinterim director of operations inArgyll and Bute, has been ap-pointed to the post of chief offi-cer of the new partnership.

And members will be askedto approve the integrationscheme for consultation and tonote an agreed timeline.

With the board's consent, thenext stage would be to finalisethe integration scheme for sub-mission to the Scottish Govern-ment.

A paper to the board will ex-plain that staff sessions andcommunity events relating tointegration are about to be com-pleted.

FoI requestsNHS HIGHLAND received 108requests for information underthe Freedom of Information Actin the period from July to Sep-tember. Of these, 48 came fromthe media, 24 from researchers,14 from parliament and six frommembers of the public.

Eight-one per cent of the re-quests were responded to withinthe statutory timescale.