A mother from a remote part of Skye was advised to drive her ill two-year-old son all the way to Inverness for treatment.
Panic-stricken mum Karen MacDonald from Staffin called was asked to make the 130-mile trip after her two-year-old son Lewis developed breathing problems.
She initially contacted Portree Hospital at 6.10am – but was told that no doctors would be on duty until 8am.
She travelled to the hospital and waited with her mother Mairi MacDonald for the doctor to arrive.
When she finally saw a GP two ours after reporting the symptoms, the doctor said that Lewis would need to be taken to Skye’s main hospital the MacKinnon Memorial in Broadford 25 miles away.
Ms MacDonald said it was then passed on to her that people at Broadford hospital said that she would need to take her son to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness herself.
Ms MacDonald said: “I was worried and my mum was worried but we were told by the doctor that it could be a long wait for an ambulance and we’d be quicker taking him ourselves.”
She added: “We had only reached Glen Varragil when we were caught up in heavy traffic. I panicked then because Lewis’s breathing wasn’t good.”
Despite the advice, the mother and The family d stop at Broadford where doctors were said to be “shocked” that Ms MacDonald had been advised to drive to Inverness herself.
An ambulance eventually took them from Broadford to Raigmore later the same day.
Lewis has previously suffered from breathing issues and doctors suspect he may have asthma but this can’t be diagnosed until he is older.
An NHS Highland spokesman said: “We cannot comment on individual cases but we would be pleased to arrange a meeting with the family to clinically review the circumstances described.”
He added: “More generally, Raigmore Hospital is the only hospital in Highland that had a paediatric unit and therefore treatment locally tends to be for minor illness or injury and for stabilisation in advance of transfer in more severe cases.
“Every patient is assessed individually and decisions on mode of transport are taken collectively after discussion with the patient if possible and those accompanying them.
“In the case of a child, the discussion would usually be with the parents.”