‘Urgent’ need for hospital talks

NHS Highland “urgently” want talks over plans to replace the Belford Hospital in Fort William.

In 2015, Highland Council bought the Blar Mhor site in the town from Tesco for £ 2million and earmarked it for a hospital to replace the ageing Belford.

In recent months the new owners of the Fort William aluminum smelter have promised to create hundreds of new jobs.

Health board chairman David Alston said yesterday: “Certainly there are interesting questions at the moment about Fort William and the Belford, where clearly we want to build a new hospital, and everything that’s happening now means we need to be involved in discussions with the government and partners locally about what the timescale of that should be.

“It’s about the condition of buildings, I think that’s what gives Belford the urgency.

“There’s clearly a need to be having these conversations.”

Mr Alston also backed controversial moves to revamp hospital services at Broadford on Skye, despite widespread opposition in P or tree and the north of the island.

“I’m happy we’ve been through the right process and the right decision.”