The workshop will be held at the Dunollie Hotel in Broadford on Friday February 12. Those invited include representatives of all community councils, Highland Councillors, MPs and MSPs, locality and clinical staff, managers and representatives of partner organisations.
It was originally scheduled to be held last summer, but was delayed to enable the public, community groups and partners to give their views on the future configuration of health provision in the area in advance of this event.
The workshop will be facilitated by health broadcaster and journalist, Pennie Taylor, and a prominent national expert will provide an overview of national policy and strategy.
The public engagement exercise ran over a five-week period in September and October of last year and was undertaken by Highland Community Care Forum (HCCF), in partnership with Skye and Lochalsh Council for Voluntary Organisations (SLCVO), for NHS Highland’s Mid Highland Community Health Partnership (CHP).
It consisted of focus group workshops and a survey, which was available as hard copies and online, and 401 responses were received.
Director of HCCF, Sheena Munro, said: “HCCF has gathered a wealth of information through this public engagement exercise and we are confident it will help those who attend the workshop make the best possible decisions for future healthcare in Skye.”
The workshops and the survey showed that many people praised current services, but they also stressed the need to safeguard against future withdrawal of services or support.
In the survey, the aspect of health services that most people considered to be most important to them was quality of care or treatment.
The exercise identified location of treatment and speed of appointments as the two top issues that needed improvement.
And the three major changes identified were a need for more local services and facilities, particularly a local hospital with modern medical facilities, improved emergency/24 hour cover and an NHS dentist.
Mid Highland CHP General Manager, Gill McVicar, said: “We are pleased that there was a good response to this exercise as the CHP was keen to hear the views of members of the public, community groups and partners about the future configuration of health provision in the area.
“The workshop on February 12 is being held to explore options for the improvement and, in some cases, redesign of health services in Skye and Lochalsh.”
She added that Scottish Government health policy was strongly based on the need to shift some types of healthcare from hospital-based services to community services.
This is partly in response to the wishes of patients who have said that services should be as close to home as possible and should help people to maintain their independence for as long as possible.
The changing needs of the population also mean that NHS Highland has to consider different ways of providing healthcare.
The summary report on the public engagement exercise will be available online at www.hccf.org.uk and http://www.slcvo.org.uk.
