Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Campaigners celebrate as Portree Hospital is saved from the axe

NHS Highland chairman David Alston
NHS Highland chairman David Alston

Campaigners on Skye are celebrating after health professionals recommended healthcare at Portree Hospital should be significantly enhanced.

Sir Lewis Ritchie, who led a major review of health provision in Skye, has seen his recommendation for the out-of-hours (OOH) service to be provided on a 24/7 basis accepted yesterday by NHS Highland.

Professor Ritchie, who also proposed retaining in-patient care and increasing ambulance cover, said: “What has happened before has not worked, and that is reflected in my recommendations.

“We must do this with resolve and most importantly work together to get the best health provision to make this a centre of excellence, a beacon of excellence, which will be followed across the country.

“We need to move forward in a way that has not been done before.

“One of the major recommendations is to retain and enhance out of hours at Portree Hospital. That will be done in new ways and working with the ambulance service, NHS 24 and the staff of NHS Highland. I hope to turn around the situation here.

“This area will become a centre of excellence for delivering robust and new models for health care. We aim to be a beacon of excellence in training healthcare staff.”

Sir Lewis delivered his recommendations on a visit to Skye yesterday and they were immediately accepted in full by NHS Highland.

He added: “The aim is to make this a very attractive place to stay and work. People who are trained in an area are more likely to remain in that area.”

The report was commissioned by NHS Highland after numerous concerns were raised by people living in North Skye as to the provision of services in the area when the new Broadford Hospital opens.

These worries were compounded by the temporary withdrawal of OOH cover on several occasions over the past Festive season.

In response to this pressure and that of a strong public campaign, a report was instigated under the leadership of Sir Lewis Ritchie, who yesterday revealed the results.

SOS Skye chairwoman Catriona MacDonald said: “We are absolutely delighted. There is a huge sigh of relief that at last this community has been heard.

“The findings are a complete vindication of our fight to stop healthcare provision being cut.

“It is fantastic he has recommended out-of-hours urgent care should be provided 24/7 and that there should be no closure of Portree Hospital and that in-patient beds must continue.

“After years of being ignored by NHS Highland we are delighted to have been listened to at last by honest brokers.”

NHS Highland chairman David Alston, who commissioned the review, confirmed the board would fully accept the recommendations and would now look at the “financial implications” of delivering them.

He said: “Our priority has always been to provide safe and sustainable services, and I regret that we have not always been able to take the public with us.

“We have to learn from that experience and use the opportunity presented by this report to rebuild trust with the communities.

“Going forward we will all have to take a different approach, an approach that enables people providing and people receiving services to share power and responsibility.”

Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “I am pleased that NHS Highland have accepted every recommendation and I expect them deliver on these in full. I have asked Sir Lewis to return in six months to review progress.”

Skye MSP Kate Forbes added: “I hope this report is the light at the end of the tunnel for campaigners and local residents who have been worried and concerned about the future of Portree Hospital.

“The most important recommendation for me is that Portree Hospital remains open in order to ensure fair and equitable health care across Skye.”

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant said: “The findings are a vindication for all those who have campaigned to maintain services in Portree and shows what people power can do.

“NHS Highland now needs to take serious note and repair relationships with the community and work together to provide the health services that are needed.”

In 2015 he chaired the National Review of Primary Care Out-of-Hours Services in 2015 for the Scottish Government.

Sir Lewis is the James Mackenzie Professor of General Practice at the University of Aberdeen.