A new NHS Highland community facility designed to enable people to rehabilitate locally and avoid a hospital stay was officially opened in Wick today by Councillor Raymond Bremner, Leader of Highland Council.
Located within Pulteney House in Wick, NHS Highland's Longberry Care offers accommodation for up to two people who need support from between three to ten days.
Longberry Care features two private bedrooms with ensuites, a shared fully equipped kitchen, a separate dining room and a sitting room with French doors leading directly out to the garden.
The new facility is supported by NHS Highland's Care at Home team who have also welcomed six new recruits who will be supporting the service at Longberry Care, as well as the existing team which already supports people to rehabilitate at home. The new staff members have just completed an intensive three week training programme.
Christian Nicolson, NHS Highland's Caithness District Manager said: “This new service has been a long-time in planning and we're delighted to open the doors as well as welcome new team members on board.
“We're determined to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and often people, perhaps after a fall or illness, just require a few days support to regain their confidence and fully rehabilitate.
“The facilities are terrific, and people can continue to be independent but know the support is there if needed.”
People can self-refer to the NHS Longberry Care service via the Single Point of Access (SPOA) service which is available on 0345 850 9413 from 9am until 5pm Monday to Friday - or a GP, home help, care organisation or family member can recommend someone in need.
Councillor Raymond Bremner, Leader of Highland Council unveiled a plaque, kindly donated by Michael Ronaldson of Norse Stone officially opening Longberry Care and added: “I'm delighted to be asked to open the new facility in Pulteney House here in Wick and I want to pay tribute to those who have worked so hard to be able to put this facility in place. At a time of real challenge in our NHS, projects like this coming to fruition allow us to see that hard work is still going on to improve the level of care service we have here in Caithness.
“Having worked with a number of the NHS staff that have been looking to make improvements in health and social care services locally, I really hope this facility will help many people receive an improved level of care both now and into the future.”
Longberry Care is a key part of NHS Highland's wider proposals to redesign, modernise and improve health and social care services in Caithness. Read more about Caithness health and social care redesign.