According to Highland Health Board it's difficult to recruit GPs to work in our lovely West Coast Island of Islay. I can't imagine why, especially as Andrew Lansley's plans for England are so unpopular that one after another Royal Colleges and medical professional organisations are falling over themselves to object to the Bill and it's 1000 amendments, to reform one of the best, and best-loved health care institutions ever invented. Health care in Scotland is devolved to the Scottish Parliament and so not affected by Lansley's changes.
We need a complement of 6 GPs to run our island service from 3 surgeries, and at present the Health Board are paying locums vast sums in order to keep the service ticking over. The 3 permanent posts are OK for now, but we are getting desperate for 3 more GPs.
Islay, with a population of 3500, is a beautiful island with amazing scenery, wildlife, an excellent 25 metre indoor swimming pool, owned and run by the community, a high class links 18 hole golf course and superb empty beaches. In the sunshine you wouldn't wish to be anywhere else. There is wonderful scope for hillwalking, rock climbing and cycling here and in our neighbouring island of Jura.
We have several primary schools, including a Gaelic Medium section, and a High School, from which many of our children have gone on to university gaining exceptional qualifications. We have a Gaelic College and access to the University of the Highland and Islands via Argyll College. All the educational advantages of small schools are in evidence here and my family have benefitted enormously from growing up in a small, safe community. Our children learn a special type of confidence which allows them to be comfortable and competent in all kinds of situations and communities which might faze children from busy urban backgrounds. They know that they are secure in their environment and gain particular communication skills, dealing amongst all ages.
You might worry that Islay is remote. We have 4 ferries each day and two 'planes to Glasgow every day except Sunday when there is just one. There is a well-organised and very efficient air ambulance service which can deliver patients to major hospitals in less time than it would take from some mainland areas. We can drive to Glasgow in about 2hrs 30mins, after 1hr 50mins on the boat; and the 'plane trip takes about 40 minutes. Hardly "remote"!
OK "shopping" you might say; well we can get everything we need here; choice is sometimes limited but we don't really want a Tesco or Morrisons....do we? It would change the ambiance. We have a good Co-Op which serves our needs and a few other well-stocked shops. There are several hotels some of which have good dining rooms, a Chinese Takeaway, a couple of Indian restaurants and a myriad other small businesses catering to our needs and desires. There are 8 distilleries and a brewery.We also have several Festivals throughout the year covering music, art, whisky and Gaelic.
The local 10-bed hospital has A&E, X-Ray, Physio, HV, OT & SALT services. Also available here are community nurses, midwives, psychiatric nurse, diabetic nurse and Macmillan nurse. We are blessed with visiting consultants in GYN, ENT, Psychiatry, Geriatrics, Medicine and Surgery. Doctors, with a full complement, would be on-call one in 5 which doesn't seem too bad to me as I was single-handed and on call 24/7 for 30 years, for radiography; and that was a part-time post. The usual GMS rules apply apparently, and more details can be found by official application to the CHP in Lochgilphead or unofficial, tentative enquiries can be made to Dr Chris Abell at present in post.
Come and join our community in one of the most pleasant places to live in the UK.
