Dave Thompson MSP

Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch has welcomed the positive reply he received from NHS Highland in response to his enquiries about pregnancy scans at Belford Hospital, and the offer to meet with Gill McVicar, Director of Operations to discuss the future of the service.

NHS Highland have been advertising the Radiographer/Sonographer vacancy at Belford hospital internally, but have now advertise publicly to fill the position.

Dave said: “I was pleased to receive clarification from NHS Highland that the post is being advertised, and that they are doing all they can to fill the position.

“The stringent requirements of the scans required during pregnancy mean that numbers of women requiring the screening scans locally are not sufficient to enable a locally based Sonographer to maintain the stringent requirements, especially those relating to the second trimester scans, to be able to maintain competences to the required standards. Second trimester scans have always been carried out at Raigmore due to their specialist nature which requires a range of facilities and expertise which cannot for practical reasons be provided at Belford.

“I look forward to meeting with NHS Highland to better understand striking a balance between maintaining the high quality of service which everyone expects, and providing as much services locally as possible.”