Healthcare on Skye is “dire and shambolic” and lives are being put at risk because of service changes on the island, an expert has claimed.
At a meeting of the Petitions Committee at Holyrood yesterday, Professor Ronald MacDonald, who wrote a report criticising the changes, said: “A & E services have already been taken away from Portree and a ward at the hospital is closed. This is obviously not good. Anything could happen especially in the tourist season when the population of Portree swells to around 7,000 and the roads are incredibly busy.
“The situation is dire and shambolic. Someone will have to be held to account when the inevitable happens and lives are lost unnecessarily.”
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch MSP Kate Forbes said there was a “tangible fear” among residents in the north of the island about NHS Highland’s decision to build a new hospital in Broadford in the south and withdraw vital services from their nearest unit in Portree.
“We must ensure that local people are not risking their lives because of where they live.”
The committee discussed the petition, signed by 4,500 people, which was first heard back in 2015. It calls on the Scottish Parliament to reverse its approval of the major healthcare changes on the island maintaining these will lead to a deterioration in essential services and will have a significant impact to those living on the north of Skye.
Ms Forbes added: “The population density is in the north end and there is a tangible fear among residents about the changes and concern that mandatory guidelines haven’t been followed in the decision-making process.”
Highlands & Islands Labour member, Rhoda Grant, added: “The long wait for the new hospital could impact on patient care, but the big issue is how it will affect those in the north end.”
The committee agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Shona Robson, for the fifth time about the matter.
An NHS Highland spokesman said: A huge amount of work is ongoing to secure the significant investment to develop sustainable and modern services to support all communities in the area.”
