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.

Health bosses preparing contingency plans for strike by north airport workers

Inverness Airport
Inverness Airport

NHS Western Isles is drawing up contingency plans for a strike by airport staff which could affect patients travelling for treatment.

Security workers at Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (Hial) will stage a 48-hour walkout from noon on April 7.

The action will affect services at airfields across the north of Scotland on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday next week.

Planes between Benbecula, Stornoway and Inverness provide essential connections for patients travelling from the Uists to hospital in Stornoway.

People requiring surgery or check-ups at Raigmore Hospital in the Highland capital also travel by air.

A Western Isles health board spokeswoman said: “It is likely that patient travel to the mainland and from Benbecula to Stornoway would be affected if flights had to be cancelled.”

She added: “We are currently considering all planned travel arrangements for the period of the proposed strike.

“We will be monitoring the situation and will make changes to patient travel arrangements in the event of flight cancellations, if necessary.”

No visiting services from mainland-based health consultants are planned on the strike dates, said the health board.

The spokeswoman added: “In the meantime, as there has been no indication to date that flights will be affected, patients should proceed with their planned arrangements.

“Should arrangements have to be altered in light of strike action and flight cancellations, patients will be contacted directly by the health board.”

In a ballot last week, 87% of Prospect union members who work for who work for the Airport Management Services Ltd (AMSL) voted in favour of a strike, on a turnout of 85%.

The union maintains the bulk of security workers receive “inferior terms for work of equal value” compared with other personnel.

Hial said its airports would open as normal despite the industrial action.

The firm said the union’s demand for a near-30% pay rise was excessive and “unrealistic” and it had taken steps to “improve pay, terms and conditions for AMSL staff and we are prepared to discuss further improvements with Prospect”.