Last month Mallaig and Arisaig Medical Practice had to take the difficult decision to say its two GPs could no longer guarantee that a local doctor would be able to provide end-of-life care at night or weekends due to ‘continuing financial cuts at the practice’.
The practice has 1,800 patients and had been providing the service on a voluntary basis – regardless of their day-today workload and without Scottish Government financial support – so this was a difficult decision for them to make.
Following the news, there was rightly concern from patients and their families that people would be left without the proper care and support when they most needed it.