Strathpeffer Medical Practice Forum
Garve and District Community Council
Added at 22:48 on 03 June 2026
Notes from today's forum;-
Following Dr Dawn Westwood's retirement, Dr Mark Vasko joined the practice on 1st April 2026 and has settled in well. He will be working eight sessions across four days each week.
Heather Crockett, Advanced Nurse Practitioner, will retire from the practice in mid-October after 22 years of service.
It is fair to say Heather will be missed enormously by both the practice and patients alike. Team members with Heather's wealth of experience are not easily found. There is no one who will truly fill Heather's shoes. Her contribution to the practice has been immense, and her clinical expertise, leadership and dedication have made a significant difference to countless patients over the years.
It is likely the practice will need to recruit a salaried GP to help cover the breadth of experience and responsibilities Heather currently undertakes, including her role as clinical lead, overseeing care homes and leading the nursing team.
Essentially, Heather is irreplaceable.
Recruitment is proving challenging at present because the Scottish Government has recently injected additional funding into general practice. As a result, practices across the country are understandably looking to recruit additional staff;- all at the same time.
Every practice in Scotland has received this funding, meaning they are all competing for the same pool of candidates. There are 83 practices in Highland alone.
The practice's intention is to maintain, as a minimum, the current level of patient access and clinical cover, but ideally they would like to increase it. This would provide greater flexibility when needed without reducing patient access to services.
Strathpeffer Medical Practice continues to strive to facilitate all routine appointments within the week and provide emergency appointments on the day a patient contacts the practice.
Over the past two years, the practice has experienced a 12% increase in registered patient numbers. With additional housing developments being built locally, further growth is anticipated.
We briefly discussed the new walk-in facility in Invergordon and learned that it is intended only for people living within the Invergordon area. It will not operate as a traditional walk-in service in the way many facilities do in England.
This led on to discussion about the likely impact on local healthcare services from the substantial workforce associated with SSEN's major infrastructure projects. With a large number of workers expected to move into the area over an anticipated four-year period, and work commencing imminently around the Garve area, there are understandable concerns about increased demand on local GP practices and other services. Ron, Chairman of Strathpeffer CC has undertaken to keep Ellie updated on developments locally which could impact on the demand of practice.
The practice is able to close its patient list to new registrations if it reaches capacity. It is some way from that point at present; however, with Heather's retirement and the need to recruit additional clinical staff, capacity will remain something the practice monitors closely.
It should be noted, however, that temporary residents living in the area cannot be turned away and remain entitled to access healthcare services.
We discussed defibrillators, particularly those located within Strathpeffer itself. Recent fundraising efforts and initiatives by local business Unwined are expected to bring another publicly accessible defibrillator to the village in the near future.
In addition, the defibrillator currently located inside Strathpeffer Pavilion, which is only accessible when the building is open, is expected to be relocated outdoors. This will make it available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, once a suitable location with a power supply has been identified and an external cabinet obtained.
Practice Manager Ellie has undertaken to map the locations of the village's defibrillators once the new unit is installed and the Pavilion unit has been relocated.
We also discussed The Peffery Way, which has recently received funding to complete the remaining section of the route. This project has been ongoing for around ten years and has provided enjoyment for many people while also creating a safe walking route, including for children travelling to and from school.
Discussion also took place around waiting times for initial hospital consultations for conditions that are not considered urgent or emergencies, particularly hernias.
Patients are often advised that they may wait a few months for an initial consultation. However, the reality is that some individuals are waiting considerably longer, in some cases approaching two years before receiving the treatment they require.
One example shared was of a gentleman who waited 19 months and 3 days from his initial GP appointment to receiving surgery. His wait was reduced somewhat by agreeing to treatment at Fort William Hospital rather than waiting for an operation at Raigmore Hospital, where the wait could potentially have been significantly longer.
It was noted that there are no routinely published datasets detailing waiting times for specific treatments in Scotland. For those seeking more detailed information to help manage expectations, one of the few available options is to submit a Freedom of Information request directly to the relevant hospital or NHS board.
Finally, we discussed Power of Attorney and the importance of having arrangements in place before they are needed. It was suggested that a Power of Attorney can be even more important than a will, as it enables trusted individuals to act on a person's behalf during their lifetime should they lose capacity.
Sadie undertook to share the general information she prepared for our community to mark the first UK Power of Attorney Day, which took place in April.
Today's meeting was rescheduled from 29th April 2026 and the next meeting will be Wednesday 23rd September. As always if anyone has any matters they would like raised at our next forum please get in touch.