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.

Funding row could mean terminally ill patients will be moved from islands to the mainland to die

Post Thumbnail

Terminally ill patients may have to go to the mainland to die if a funding row over the Outer Hebrides’ only hospice is not quickly resolved.

The hospice is part of a building and charity that has been supported by Donald Trump’s sister.

Bethesda at Stornoway on Lewis has a 30-bed nursing and respite care unit and a four bed hospice.

It is the hospice that is at the centre of the row – and there are warnings it could close because of the cash shortfall.

It is claimed that NHS Western Isles should be funding half the annual costs – but since 2007 its contribution is said to have slipped to 32% in the current financial year and predicted to fall to 30%.

A spokeswoman for the facility has now said that as a result the charity had to fundraise £100,000-a-year more to £370,000.

“If it continues on the way its going we will have to close and the next nearest hospice is the Highland Hospice on the mainland and they are full,” she said.


Local and Proud: Follow our new Facebook page dedicated to the Highlands and Islands


“We have been fighting this with the health board for a long time and we have managed to keep our costs down to just a 15 percent increase over the years, which is incredible.

“But it has got to the point we have now written to the Scottish Government about the problem with the health board. We can’t continue at this level of support.”

The Western Isles Council’s SNP Group today expressed its “frustration and disappointment” at the situation.

The Western Isles Integration Joint Board (IJB) – a partnership between the council and NHS Western Isles, along with third and independent sector providers of health and social care – decided on Thursday to continue discussions over financing the hospice.

SNP group leader Gordon Murray said: “This is not acceptable. To continue to avoid funding the Bethesda Hospice is putting the whole service at risk.

“The health board has underfunded this important facility in our community for eleven years and it looks like the IJB are minded to continue this injustice.

“The inability to plan for the long-term future, and rather look at the short-term economics, seems to be the culture in officialdom in the islands with the closure of schools etc. The decision, or lack of a decision, to continue discussions, is testament to that.

“What will happen when the Hospice closes? Will families have to fly off to hospices on the mainland? We cannot allow the uncertainty over our hospice to continue and I would urge the IJB to do the right thing and fund the £138,000 that is urgently needed to ensure the service is saved.”

The health board has been asked to comment.