Restore round clock care at Portree hospital, orders FM
Scotland’s health secretary wants NHS Highland to urgently restore 24-hour access to urgent care at Portree hospital after a lifeboat crew had to help a woman breath because the hospital 200 yards away was closed.
At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday May 16, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Highlands and Islands MSP Douglas Ross, began: “On Saturday, a woman tragically died at a music festival on Skye. At the same festival, 27-year-old Eilidh Beaton nearly lost her life when no ambulances were available.”
Fellow Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP, Jamie Halcro Johnston, explained in a statement: “Eilidh
Beaton, suffering anaphylactic shock and left waiting for an hour for an ambulance, was forced to use five epi-pens just to stay alive, while drifting in and out of consciousness.
“Oxygen was sourced but Eilidh’s boyfriend, Michael, sent to Portree Hospital to get a mask to deliver it, found the lights on but the hospital locked.
“After knocking on the doors and throwing stones at the windows, it took a further 999 call before the hospital provided the mask.”
Mr Ross continued: “Eilidh said: ‘My airways were shutting down. I could not breathe. At one point I thought if I don’t get oxygen I will not be here tomorrow.
“‘We were 200 yards from Portree Hospital. A local coastguard offered to carry me to the hospital but were told there was no point because it was closed – so I would just be left lying outside.’”
Turning to the new First Minister, Mr Ross asked: “One life has been lost and another was very nearly lost. Does John Swinney accept that should never have been allowed to happen?”
Mr Swinney, SNP MSP for Perthshire North, replied: “That should never have happened. I express my sincere condolences to the family of the individual who lost their life and I say to Eilidh directly, I am sorry for the terrifying experience.
“The individuals who supported Eilidh, including Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteers and others, have the admiration and appreciation of the Government.
“Portree community hospital is not currently operating as a 24/7 emergency facility. Some years ago, Sir Lewis Ritchie recommended that it should be and it is a matter of deep concern to the Government that that has not happened. The health secretary spoke with the leadership of NHS Highland yesterday to make it clear we want that to happen at the earliest possible opportunity.
“The Portree ambulance was away from Portree at the time, so ambulances came to Portree from Dunvegan and from Kyle, which involves quite a travel time. The ambulances got there as quickly as possible.”
Mr Ross retorted: “The report is from more than a few years ago; it was published in May 2018 – six years ago.”
Mr Swinney responded: “There has been a three-year period since then in which 24-hour emergency care arrangements were provided at Portree community hospital; however, they were not able to be sustained because of workforce challenges in the locality [due to] staff availability and issues with housing availability.”
Mr Halcro Johnston has written to the First Minister and the cabinet secretary for health, SNP MSP for Airdrie and Shotts Neil Gray, to ask them “to commit to the restoration of the 24/7 urgent care at Portree Hospital without delay, and that they do so in Skye and face-to-face with local campaigners and concerned residents.”
The Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, added on May 17: “We owe great appreciation to the NHS and Scottish Ambulance Service workers, who don’t deserve criticism.
“They do an exceptional job, we owe them our thanks and we need them.
“This evening, I had a constructive meeting with the chief executive and chair of NHS Highland about Portree hospital and the implementation of the Lewis Ritchie Review.
“At the Scottish Government’s request, they are preparing a plan, at speed, to enable NHS Highland to meet the recommendations of the Ritchie Review. That includes, critically, opening Portree Hospital so it is available for urgent care needs when they arise.”
‘One life has been lost and another was very nearly lost. Does John Swinney accept that should never have been allowed to happen?’