“Everything must be done” to stop a repeat of a “deeply concerning” incident where an air ambulance called to the aid of a baby was sent 120 miles in the wrong direction.
An investigation has been launched after the King Air plane, with an incubator on board ready for the poorly infant, mistakenly flew to Shetland instead of Orkney.
The Scottish Ambulance Service stressed that the air ambulance quickly diverted to Orkney after the error was revealed.
The infant was eventually transferred safely to Aberdeen, and has since returned home.
But last night, worried island politicians expressed disbelief at the blunder and called for assurances it would never happen again.
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur has written to Scottish Ambulance Service Chief Executive, Pauline Howie, expressing serious concern.
Mr McArthur suggested that such an incident, which SAS has described as an “extremely unusual occurrence”, risks damaging public confidence and stressed the urgency of finding out what went wrong and ensuring it cannot happen again.
He said: “The importance of the air ambulance service to islanders cannot be overstated. All too often it can be the difference between life and death.
“Reports that a flight meant to pick up a patient in Orkney can end up in Shetland is therefore deeply concerning. Fortunately, on this occasion, no harm appears to have come to the young patient involved, but it is imperative that the investigation underway is concluded quickly and any additional safeguards necessary put in place.
“There must be no question of this sort of thing happening again. That is the assurance I have sought and hope to receive from the chief executive of SAS.”
Councillor Bill Stout, of the Kirkwall East ward in Orkney, said: “I don’t know the full details. One does wonder how on earth it could have happened.
“To anyone who lives in Orkney or Shetland, they are really quite distinctive places. I don’t know how it could have happened, but obviously it shouldn’t have.
“Everything has to be done to stop it from happening again and to do that they have to investigate what it was that did go wrong, to stop a recurrence.”
Chairman of Shetland Islands Council’s community safety and resilience board Alastair Cooper said he was “amazed” to learn of the incident.
“It’s a serious miscalculation,” he said. “If you did actually land in Shetland, the actual time to go back to Orkney, that could affect the patient.
“It’s the sort of thing that in a time critical situation, you can’t afford things like that to happen.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident on Friday March 17 where an air ambulance was sent to Shetland instead of Orkney.
“This is an extremely unusual occurrence and we made arrangements for our aircraft to collect the patient from Orkney as soon as we were made aware of the error.
“The patient was transferred safely to hospital in Aberdeen by air.
“We are working closely with NHS Grampian to establish the circumstances around the initial request.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “We are aware of the incident on Friday March 17 and are working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service to establish the exact circumstances.
“The patient was safely transferred to Aberdeen, treated and has returned home.”
