Moira Kerr

A DOCTOR has filled a long-vacant island GP position by returning to his old job but only if he can answer his own call-outs.

Dr Frank Teunnise retired five months ago from his surgery on Mull after becoming disillusioned with the NHS 24 out-of-hours call system.

But he has now filled a vacancy at another island surgery after convincing NHS Highland to let him answer his own calls and not deal with the centralised out-of-hours service.

Dr Teunisse, 58, said he experienced flaws in the NHS system resulting in delays in seeing patients.

He said: “I, who have done years of 24/7 on-call duties on different islands, really started dreading being on call with NHS 24.

“During my two years with them there have been several mistakes and I often felt unhappy to rely on their assessment.”

The highly experienced doctor, who started work as a GP in 1993, has worked on many Scottish islands including Islay, Jura, Colonsay, Skye and Shetland.

But he became increasingly disillusioned with working as an island GP while dealing with the centralised call system. An unreliable mobile phone signal also makes NHS 24 unworkable in remote areas of Mull and Iona.

He added: “There are so many things they have got wrong. In my opinion NHS 24 is not very good. It is not for patients, it’s to make life easier for doctors. The medical advice given during the day is good but the on-call bit, at least on Mull, is desperately failing.

 “A visitor had phoned NHS 24 from outside their holiday home because of poor reception. He got fed-up waiting outside in the rain because NHS 24 did not call me immediately and so the patient went back inside the house. Thus I was unable to get hold of him. There shouldn’t be NHS 24 on islands with poor mobile reception, that is my opinion.”

NHS Highland clocked up a big bill for locums, which can cost between £600-£1,000 for single handed 24-hour on-call practices plus expenses and travel costs, while trying, without success, to find a doctor willing to work in the NHS 24 system at Bunessan.

But now Dr Teunisse will fill the position, just five months after retiring from his surgery in Salen, 40 miles further north after the health board allowed him to work Bunessan independently.

Mull councillor Mary Jean Devon said: “The NHS saw sense and gave him the job. He is a fantastic doctor. He wants to run Bunessan the old way, as a one-man practice, and he has got lots of support from us.”

An NHS 24 spokeswoman said: “NHS 24 is a national service which provides support for patients throughout Scotland when their GP surgery is closed. In the case of Mull, we work in partnership with NHS Highland to provide the most appropriate support dependent on the patient’s needs.

“NHS 24 does not contact any GPs directly, but GP contact is managed by NHS Highland via its out-of-hours hub.”

An NHS Highland spokesman said: “NHS24 provides a safe and effective triage service across Scotland which allows patients and visitors to access the appropriate care for their individual condition.”