Health chiefs reopen Aird Ferry Resource Centre at Dornie
The day service at Aird Ferry Resource Centre at Dornie has reopened, writes Mark Entwistle.
Following a short period of closure due to staff shortages at An Acarsaid Care Home in Broadford on Skye in September, the service resumed yesterday (Wednesday October 9).
A spokesman for NHS Highlands, told the Lochaber Times: ‘We have successfully recruited staff which enables us to reopen the service on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays each week.
‘We will continue to operate on these days until we have the new staff in post at An Arcasaid. It is anticipated these staff will be in post by the beginning of November.’
NHS Highland says it will continue to offer day care from An Arcasaid on Mondays and Tuesdays until it is able to run a fiveday-a-week service at Aird Ferry.
The health board also confirmed that a public consultation about future services to be delivered from Aird Ferry is set to continue and NHS Highland will be holding drop-in sessions on Thursday October 24 and Saturday October 26, between 6.30pm and 8.30pm.
The venue for these dropin sessions is still to be confirmed, but NHS Highland will give details of the location in due course.
MSP Kate Forbes, who had called for the centre to be reopened as soon as possible, told the Lochaber Times: ‘This is brilliant news for those who rely on the Aird Ferry centre and the community.
‘This is a vital centre for day care and it would have been unthinkable to see it closed for the foreseeable future.
‘I am relieved that NHS Highland has recruited additional staff to reopen the centre. The key issue now is to ensure that the centre is used and is useful to people.
‘Full credit goes to the community which has made clear just how much it values the centre.’