Scottish Government Stumps Up £1,000,000 Towards NHS Highland Bullying Claims

24th March 2020

David Stewart MSP has posted a message.

I have been told the Scottish Government will give a maximum of just over £1million to NHS Highland to cope with the number of bullying and harassment cases being lodged.

Scottish Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman, revealed the figure in the answer to a Parliamentary Question I lodged.

I have been pursuing answers on the amount of funding and the process people can use to lodge their cases following concerns from a number of constituents who continue to contact me.

It is good that the Government has finally revealed the figure which is substantial and shows just how many people they expect to come forward and how much support it is felt those people need.

I realise that Covid-19 will be extremely challenging for the health authority at this moment, but the fact that the Government has moved to help fund this process will be of some comfort to current and former staff and will hopefully cover claims for compensation.

I hope this will mean the system will be more robust and able to give those coming forward confidence that it will be independent from the health authority and able to look anew at each individual case.