A contract to ferry medical professionals to the Small Isles has been awarded to a company from Skye.
NHS Highland confirmed that Seafari Adventures Skye, owned by Peter Fowler, is the successful bidder for the new Small Isles Boat Charter Service.
The contract provides regular twice weekly trips to the Small Isles on a Tuesday and Thursday for visiting GPs and any other healthcare professionals that require to travel over to the islands of Muck, Rum, Eigg and Canna.
Midwifes, health visitors, community nurse, physiotherapists, podiatrist will be among those using the service.
The contract begins on December 9 and will last for two years, with an option for NHS Highland to extend it for a further one year until December, 2019. The value of the contract, including the extension option, is £240,600.
Mr Fowler has been providing this service on an interim basis since April this year when the previous contractor resigned.
A spokesman for NHS Highland said: “Every Tuesday the return trip is from Armadale on Skye over to Eigg; every alternate Thursday the round trip is Armadale to Eigg and Muck, and the next Thursday the round trip will be Armadale to Rum and Canna.
“We have made provision within this contract to provide a service whereby the boat charter will pick up patients from Muck and Rum and take them to the newly refurbished surgery facility on Eigg, for planned appointments at specialist clinics. These clinics will more than likely be scheduled for the period from April – September when the weather is more predictable.”
He continued: “This new model of delivering healthcare for the Small Isles has been in place now since November 2014, and consists of a combination of approaches.
“We have improved community resilience, through the development of Remote and Rural Health and Social Care Support Workers who now provide a valuable service to the Eigg and Muck residents, the Scottish Ambulance First Responder Scheme, and the development of local skills within the community to deal with healthcare needs alongside a visiting service provided through NHS Highland’s Rural Support Team, which is led by three GPs based on Skye – Dr Angus Venters, Dr Geoff Boyes, and Dr Clare Whitney.
“Patients can be offered a variety of appointments, either face to face, telephone consultations or video consultations. Video conference units have been installed in both Small Isles Medical Practice and Sleat Medical Practice.”