Steve Welsh, Reform UK's candidate for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, has launched a sustained campaign for better NHS services following feedback from residents across the constituency that healthcare provision is dangerously inadequate. Residents in Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross have described having to travel hours to access services available in any large town, waiting weeks for GP appointments, and facing postcode lottery variations in access to physiotherapy, mental health support, and specialist referrals. 'The ability to see a doctor quickly and locally is a matter of life or death in a constituency of this size,' said Mr Welsh. 'If you live in Bettyhill or Durness and need urgent care, you are not five minutes from a hospital — you are a very long drive from one. That reality must be at the centre of NHS planning for this area.' He cited analysis showing that years of centralisation in Highland healthcare have stripped back local services and left communities with too few local options. He called for a dedicated rural healthcare strategy for the Far North, including incentives to attract GPs to remote practices, expanded telemedicine facilities, and investment in the Caithness General Hospital in Wick. 'Reform UK will not accept that living in a beautiful but remote part of Scotland means accepting second-class healthcare. This is fixable and we will fix it.'
Local News9 Sept 2025