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Elderly people in the Highlands are suffering an "unknown horror story" due to a shortage of care home facilities, an MP has warned. Angus MacDonald branded the current system "inhumane" and called for urgent action to increase capacity. He made the comments ahead of a special cross-party conference on adult social care in Fort William on Friday, which he is co-hosting with Kate Forbes, the Deputy First Minister. A report by Mr MacDonald previously warned the number of care homes in the Highlands fell by almost a fifth over a decade. Meanwhile, the proportion of those aged 75 and older increased by 71.9 per cent between 2001 and 2023. Mr MacDonald, the Liberal Democrat MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, told The Scotsman: "It's a sort of unknown horror story. It hugely affects a relatively small number of people, and they are at a stage where they don't have an audience. "If you are a 90-year-old widow living in Dunvegan [in Skye] and you get to a stage where you cannot cope and care at home cannot look after you, you will have two options. The chances are you will go to Inverness to a care home, or you will go into hospital while they try and come up with a solution for you. "And there are people who have stayed over a year in hospitals, and that is what's causing the delayed discharge block in the Highlands, which is the worst in rural Scotland." He added: "These people, some have family members and some don't. And the ones who don't are just not heard. They effectively get institutionalised a long way from where they live, and they are bewildered and probably quite unhappy." Mr MacDonald called it “an inhumane system”. He said private operators currently cannot afford to open in places such as Ullapool because there are not enough self-funded residents, and public funding "comes nowhere near to covering the cost". The MP has proposed establishing four new care “clusters” in Portree, Fort Augustus, Ullapool and Fort William, each with around 60 beds, at an estimated cost of between £60 and £80 million. This would be funded by the Scottish Government. However, Mr MacDonald argued cash from renewable projects could also be utilised. He called for the establishment of a dedicated “working party” to thrash out a way forward over the next six to eight months. This would include representatives from the NHS, Scottish Government and Highland Council, he said. The conference this Friday will be held at the Highland Cinema, and will bring together policymakers, practitioners and sector leaders to discuss the growing challenges facing health and social care across the Highlands and islands. Speakers will include Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, and Ms Forbes, who represents Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch in the Scottish Parliament. Speaking ahead of the event, Ms Forbes said: “Social care in the West Highlands is facing a number of challenges, including challenges to recruit and to sustain smaller care homes. My hope is that this conferences moves the conversation on to solutions. “There are opportunities unique to the west coast, such as thriving industries, increased house building and significant investment - I want to see how we can ensure those opportunities extend to making our care sector more resilient.”
