Skye campaigners are “angry and upset” after NHS bosses cancelled crucial talks to bring back 24/7 care to Portree Hospital at the last minute.
Residents have warned “lives are at stake” less than a month after one woman nearly died while waiting for an ambulance, even though she was minutes from the hospital.
SNP ministers said overnight care should be reinstated at Portree hospital as a matter of urgency, six years after it was recommended in a major report.
Fed-up campaigners hoped years of frustration might finally come to an end after the local crisis gained national attention, even headlining First Minister’s Questions.
But on Tuesday NHS Highland bosses postponed a key meeting with local residents, leaving them completely in the dark and fearing for the future.
Speaking to The Press and Journal at an SNP campaign event, local MSP and Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said the meeting should be rescheduled as soon as possible.
She said: “I’ve been involved with his campaign for years, and have been engaging with the chief executive and campaigners to make sure they were one of the first groups to be briefed.
“They need to be briefed on the comprehensive plans. I want to see that meeting reinstated as soon as possible.”
But campaigners were not reassured by Ms Forbes.
“We’re extremely angry,” said campaigner Fay Thomson. “We’re extremely upset. We’re exhausted.”
The latest row comes as the SNP fight for votes at the upcoming Westminster election.
Fay told us: “Successive health secretaries have allowed this to happen.
“I don’t know how the electorate will judge that performance, but it doesn’t impress me.”
What happened in Skye last month?
Teacher Eilidh Beaton, 27, nearly died on May 11 as she was left waiting nearly an hour for an ambulance.
Ms Beaton, who was attending Portree music festival, used five epi-pens to stay alive when she went into anaphylactic shock and drifted in and out of consciousness.
In a separate incident at the festival, a woman named Heather Aird died as the emergency care system on the island completely collapsed.
First Minister John Swinney publicly apologised to Eilidh days later and said: “This should never have happened.”
Why was the meeting with campaigners cancelled?
NHS Highland said the meeting was postponed since the health board’s plan to bring back 24-hour care could still be changed.
A spokesperson said the Scottish Government had requested “further engagement” before the blueprint is finalised.
Portree campaigners say they were not given permission to see any draft plans prior to the cancelled meeting.
A spokesperson said: “We have proposed that this meeting is rescheduled, to ensure the discussion relates to the most up to date proposals.”
‘Typical’
Highlands and Islands Tory MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston said: “After initial progress seemed to have been made, it is disappointing that timescales and commitments have been allowed to slip again which has rightly angered the community.”
Furious Portree campaigners, including Fay, say complex and detailed plans are unnecessary since residents simply want to see urgent care reinstalled.
She told us: “That’s not what was asked for.
“It’s so typical of NHS Highland’s tactics over the last six years: complicate it to the point where people don’t know what they’re talking about.
“Lives are at stake. We very nearly lost a precious member of our community.”
She added: “My simple message would be to reinstate 24/7 urgent care in Portree before someone else loses their life.”
Conversation