By Marjory Inglis, health reporter

TAYSIDE HEALTH BOSSES yesterday approved a plan to send local volunteers to medical emergencies in a remote Perthshire area.

But the decision was not unanimous and three NHS Tayside board members formally registered their dissent amid concerns the scheme approved for Kinloch Rannoch could spread to the Angus glens and other remote and rural areas of Tayside.

Afterwards an angry protester from Kinloch Rannoch said that the decision would result in a modern day Highland clearance as people would be too afraid to live in an area without appropriate access to health care.

Retired midwife Veronica Grosset was part of a small group of protesters who travelled from Kinloch Rannoch to attend yesterday’s meeting of the board of NHS Tayside in King’s Cross Hospital, Dundee.

They carried placards and wore home-made badges calling for “proper” out-of-hours cover for Kinloch Rannoch.

Protesters have campaigned for a resident GP offering round the clock cover, believing the remoteness of the area makes Kinloch Rannoch a special case.

It takes at least half an hour for an ambulance to arrive in the village and residents are concerned lives could be lost.

One resident, too ill to attend yesterday’s meeting, told The Courier he would not be alive today if his medical emergency had happened when his local surgery was closed and he had to wait for an ambulance based at least 30 minutes away.

Mike Hutchins, who lives alone in the Kinloch Rannoch area, said he became very unwell about two months ago, suffering from what was later diagnosed as blood clots on both lungs.

While there is no 24-hour GP cover, a doctor was on duty during the daytime when he fell ill and he called the surgery in the village.

“I was not able to say too much and they realised something serious was going on,” said Mr Hutchins.

“The doctor came right away. Apparently when she found me I was still clutching the phone.”

Mr Hutchins added, “Fortunately she managed to bring me round but if I’d had to wait another half an hour, I would not be here today.”

NHS Tayside chairman Sandy Watson said the authority had an approved system already in place for covering periods when doctors’ surgeries were closed.

That was working well.

He and his colleagues were aware the Kinloch Rannoch community wanted “greater reassurance about emergency cover in a crisis situation” and the options before members yesterday were about improving the emergency response.

Board members heard that last year there were an average of three emergencies a month in the Kinloch Rannoch area.

It would be difficult to recruit paramedics or GPs to be based in the village out of hours, with so few chances to use their skills.

Chief operating officer Gerry Marr said first responders was the preferred option, with local volunteers trained by the ambulance service to “keep people alive” until paramedics could get to the patients.

He said that it worked successfully elsewhere.

“It is the safest and most sustainable and most economically-viable option in a community like Kinloch Rannoch,” he added.

Protesters had called for a decision to be deferred to allow more discussion of the issues, but Mr Marr said there was a fundamental difference of opinion that would not be resolved by further dialogue.

Board member Lorraine Caddell, also a Perth and Kinross councillor, said she did not have enough information about first responders and moved for a deferral.

She was seconded by Angus Provost Ruth Leslie-Melville, who said she had lived in the country for many years but, due to concerns about her health and the ready availability of medical help, she had moved in to the town.

The board voted 17 to three against deferment and approved the recommendation to introduce trained volunteers as first responders.

The two councillors and employee director Margaret Harper recorded their dissent.

Mrs Grosset said, “This is going to result in new Highland clearances under the NHS because people cannot stay where it is too remote to get help when they need it.”