Skye health cuts

I would like to reinforce Fiona Matthews’ excellent letter (3 May) regarding NHS Highlands cuts in Caithness. Your readers should be aware these cuts are taking place throughout the Highland region and it is no exaggeration to say that what we are seeing here is a dismantling of the NHS as we know and love it.

In Skye and Raasay, for example, we have already seen the A&E Unit and 24/7 doctor cover in Portree capriciously axed on the pretext of the “redesign” of health and social care. This puts many locals and tourists in the most populous area of Skye outside the crucial golden hour for emergency cover. Although some beds remain in Portree hospital, these no longer have 24/7 doctor cover, and in any case the hospital itself is due to be axed soon.

It is interesting to note that in terms of the objective evidence and the mandatory Scottish Government guidelines, the A&E in Portree should not have been closed, since it is the one key area that maximises the number of lives that could be saved in an emergency.

Indeed, Portree is also the main emergency planning centre for a large part of the Highland area and how a major emergency will be handled when it will most likely happen in the most risky area (Portree and the North) with no A&E or hospital beds has yet to be explained.

A nursing post in place in Raasay since the formation of the NHS has also been cut and the island is left without 24/7 cover, relying now on the RNLI diverting its lifeboat to evacuate the sick or injured off the island with all of the trauma and anxiety created, especially for the elderly.

Skye is, of course, one of the leading tourist destinations in the world, contributing many millions of pounds to the Scottish economy. However, its health and social care provision is now taking on the status of a developing country.

The increased mortality risks resulting from cuts will have devastating implications for the families involved and for the Scottish economy. PROF RONALD MACDONALD

Viewfield Road, Portree