First Minister John Swinney has spoken of his “deep concern” over the availability of emergency care on Skye after a woman feared she could die.
Eilidh Beaton’s airway closed when she suffered an allergic reaction at a pub in Portree on the island after leaving the Skye Live Festival and she told the Press and Journal she feared she would “not be here tomorrow”.
All three available ambulances were already on other calls and Portree Community Hospital – reportedly just a few hundred yards from where Ms Beaton was – was closed.
In 2018, a review by Dr Sir Lewis Ritchie recommended the out-of-hours service at the facility should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross raised Ms Beaton’s case during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, asking Mr Swinney if he accepted “this should never be allowed to happen”.
“I agree with Mr Ross, this should never have happened,” the First Minister said.
Mr Swinney added his apologies to Ms Beaton and condolences to the family and friends of Heather Aird, who died at the festival after police said she became “unwell”.
He continued: “As Mr Ross will be aware, Portree Hospital is not operating currently as a 24/7 emergency facility.
“Sir Lewis Ritchie recommended some years ago that it should be and it is a matter of deep concern to the Government that that has not happened.
“The Health Secretary spoke to the leadership of NHS Highland yesterday to make it clear that we want that to happen at the earliest possible opportunity.”
The First Minister also shared the “admiration and appreciation” of the Scottish Government to those who helped Ms Beaton in her plight, including a Coastguard team.
“We all have admiration for those who stepped in to help but it should never have gotten to that stage,” Mr Ross replied.
Pressed on why the recommendation has not been followed six years after the review, Mr Swinney clarified there was a three-year period where the hospital was open overnight, but that has since changed because of staffing issues, which the First Minister accepted was “not good enough”.
The review also said the Scottish Ambulance Service should improve its presence in the area.
“I understand the genuine concern that Mr Ross is expressing to Parliament today and I take that very seriously,” the First Minister said.
Health Secretary Neil Gray, Mr Swinney added, has spoken to NHS Highland leaders to insist those arrangements must be put in place”.
The case, Mr Ross claimed, was emblematic of a “crisis” in rural healthcare across the country.
“There are blackspots across Scotland where urgent treatment is often unavailable, there are sometimes no ambulances if you live in the wrong place, there is a postcode lottery for emergency care,” he said.
“This crisis is costing lives and putting people at risk.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also pressed the First Minister on the difficulties Ms Beaton faced getting care.
Telling Mr Swinney that the emergency care system in Skye had “collapsed” over the weekend, he said Ms Beaton had suffered a “life-threatening” anaphylactic shock “virtually on the door step of Portree Hospital”.
Mr Cole-Hamilton said lifeboat volunteers had been “hammering on the doors” of the facility while “her boyfriend literally threw rocks at the windows of the hospital”.
The Lib Dem demanded: “Why has it take six years, and a near fatality, for this government to finally lift the phone of NHS Highland about emergency care on Skye?”
Mr Swinney reiterated that what had happened at the weekend was “unacceptable”, adding that the recommendations for round-the-clock care to be provided at Portree “should have been implemented consistently”.
While saying that this had been met for three years, Mr Swinney accepted: “That’s not good enough, it certainly wasn’t good enough at the weekend.
“So that issue has been addressed directly by the Health Secretary in his dialogue with NHS Highland.”
A spokesperson for NHS Highland said it had met local campaigners on the issue in Portree last month and it was “helpful to hear and understand the concerns of community members”.
The spokesperson said: “The new CEO Fiona Davies, and chair, Sarah Compton-Bishop, underlined our commitment to completing the outstanding recommendations of the Sir Lewis Ritchie review, including urgent care provision in north Skye.
“The need for improved communication is fully acknowledged and the launch of the new District Planning Group for Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross earlier this month will help us to continue to work collaboratively with the local communities.
“We will be liaising with the Scottish Ambulance Service in relation to this incident as part of our investigations and to take forward any learning for both organisations.”