A remote west Highland community claims its emergency response service is “tottering on the verge of collapse” because the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) has been able to fill vacancies.
The nearest ambulance cover for West Ardnamurchan in Lochaber is at Strontian, which is at least an hour’s drive away.
Local people fought hard for a new system to be put in place when they realised that one of the two district nurses, who had been responding to out-of-hours 999 calls, was due to retire early in 2012.
A unique model, known as the West Ardnamurchan Emergency Responder pilot, was then established by the SAS in partnership with NHS Highland and the Scottish Centre for Telehealth and Telecare.
The aim was to have a team of six specially-trained emergency responders in place.
A telehealth clinic was set up to provide a direct link to Aberdeen’s Emergency Care Centre so the responders could speak to hospital staff by video link.
However, it has never been possible to recruit six people and the number will be down to two in the New Year.
West Ardnamurchan community council secretary, Jac Crosbie, said: “The whole scheme is now tottering on the verge of collapse simply because the Scottish Ambulance Service hasn’t been able to recruit to replace those who, for good reasons, have had to leave.
“As of the beginning of next year, we are likely to be down to two emergency responders. Since they have to attend emergencies in pairs, this means that these two will be on duty 24/7, which is utterly unacceptable.
“Our nearest ambulance is at Strontian, which is a good hour’s drive in a car in good weather. This is very worrying, particularly for those with small children and for older people.”
She added that locals were calling for a meeting with the ambulance service early next year to discuss the situation.
And the community council is appealing to anyone who has medical qualifications to consider applying for one of the vacant posts.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We are fully committed to maintaining the emergency responder model in West Ardnamurchan and are working in partnership with the local community council to address current recruitment and retention issues as a matter of priority.”