About NHS Highland

Putting quality first to deliver better health, better care and better value - The Highland Quality Approach

Introduction

We serve a population of approximately 310,000 residents and provide a wide range of services across the largest land area (~40%) of any health authority in Scotland. 

The areas we cover are benefiting from improved health services and so people are now living longer.  We estimate that by 2031 the number of people aged 75 or over in Highland will double. This is important to plan for because older people tend to make more use of health and social services. As people age it becomes more likely that they may acquire one or more long-term condition(s) like asthma, chest problems, depression, dementia, diabetes and heart disease as well as having a greater risk of getting cancer.

Physical health is also affected by people’s life circumstances, their mental wellbeing, the lifestyle they lead and by the opportunities they have to get involved in their communities. There are many reasons for unhealthy lifestyles and for some people circumstances can conspire to make living healthily difficult without support. We therefore, need to do more to reduce the number of people smoking and drinking too much alcohol whilst doing everything we can to promote a healthy diet and regular exercise. If we can do these things it will benefit everybody.

NHS Highland is the biggest employer in the region so our staff are also  important members of our communities.  As an organisation, we make a very significant contribution to the local economy.

The Scottish Highlands are known world wide as containing some of the nation’s most outstanding natural environment. This also presents some challenges in delivering services.  For instance a difficult terrain, rugged coastlines, many remote and rural area, inhabited islands, limited transport and communications infrastructure.