A father and son duo are celebrating the culmination of 18 years of research as they close the chapter on their final book.
Jim and Steve Leslie are the masterminds behind the book series on the History of Highland Hospitals.
The pair launched the project back in 2008, researching the history of the healthcare services across the north.
Father and son, Jim and Steve Leslie, are the creators of the book series on the history of Highland hospitals.
The final installment centres around Caithness and its many local healthcare establishments, including the Bignold and Thurso and Latheron Poorhouses.
The book documents Caithness medical provision during the two World Wars, highlighting the area’s strategic geographical location and the large numbers of military personnel who required medical care, including those at the POW camp at Watten.
Steve is no stranger to the health service through his role as a consultant cardiologist in NHS Highland.
He is also the author of numerous research papers, articles and book chapters.
He hopes their efforts have prompted an appreciation for the work carried out by the NHS.
Steve said: “It has been fascinating to uncover how healthcare was provided in the past but also to appreciate that many of the challenges we face today, due to the geography and dispersed population, are not new.
“We hope that this project has sparked people’s interest and helped them to appreciate what the NHS does.”
The Hospitals of Caithness is the final book in the series. Picture: Supplied
The Hospitals of Caithness is the eighth installment in the History of Highland Hospitals series.
Previous editions focused on Skye, Nairn, Lochaber, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland and Badenoch and Strathspey.
Jim, a former geography teacher in Nairn Academy, expressed their gratitude to all those who have played and part.
He said: “This has been great fun over the past 18 years, and we have met so many interesting and helpful people, many of whom have contributed greatly to the results of our research and to whom we are very grateful.”
Dr Alison Brooks, a GP at Thurso and Halkirk Medical Practice described the book as a “fascinating” read.
She added: “I would thoroughly recommend this fascinating book to anyone with an interest in the health facilities in Caithness, and I am very grateful to Steve and Jim Leslie for their very detailed and intensively researched account, which has certainly opened my eyes and provided me with a wealth of history that will undoubtedly be appreciated by many who read it.”
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