Poor road conditions make it harder and more dangerous and can make a patient in stable condition become unstable - This Idea was shared at the Highland Youth Parliament Conference
Not one surgeon, Dr, MSP etc has once travelled in the back of an ambulance from Caithness to Inverness in appalling weather conditions (not for lack of asking) and have actually cancelled trips due to awful weather. Very narrow minded thinking due to a loss of a baby. Raigmore has never disclosed how many babies they have lost. This was a shameful tactic to get more folk to Raigmore and to downgrade our hospital.
We have seen many more road closures on the A9 North & A99 than ever before. The volume of traffic has drastically increased with the NC500 route. Winter weather conditions have also been worsening with more closures due to drifting snow. There has also been a huge increase in deer by the roadside which is another danger. Driving has become poorer since the pandemic too, many locals are reporting near misses with overtaking on corners. Road isn't always an option to transfer a patient and unfortunately neither is air. We need to have emergency plans in place locally. Emergencies are rare but they do happen.
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