IT is an issue that has sparked divisions within an island community for decades, with the north and south of Skye both touted as potential locations for a new hospital.
IT is an issue that has sparked divisions within an island community for decades, with the north and south of Skye both touted as potential locations for a new hospital.
Now health chiefs have sided with those who argued in favour of a community hospital and resource centre in Broadford, 25 miles to the south of the island's capital Portree.
NHS Highland has unanimously endorsed the recommendation for the new centre, along with an upgraded 'spoke' or satellite facility in Portree , where residents have said they could consider mounting a legal challenge to the decision.
Garry Coutts, chair of NHS Highland, described the decision as ??historic?? and said detailed planning for the new facilities would now get under way.
He added: ??Understandably, there has been some controversy around this issue. People have approached it from various perspectives, and our job has been to try to arrive at a consensus view on how best to reshape our services.
??We have done so with the interests of the entire community at heart and would ask everyone in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross to pull together behind this decision. With their continuing help, I am confident that we will provide first-class healthcare and social care facilities and services that are fit for the 21st century.??
There are currently small hospitals in both locations, the 20-bed Dr MacKinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford and the 12-bed Portree Hospital which has the local GP practice in it.Consequently there has been a north v south debate on the island over decades as to which should be the site of a new hospital.
In March, Broadford was earmarked as the preferred option for a new hospital. It would have X-ray and endoscopy facilities, and be able to carry out minor operations.
However, the Portree Medical Practice wrote to the health board at that time, saying that the capital was the ??logical location?? for the hub., it has recently emerged
The new hospital will cover the island and also parts of mainland Ross-shire, which have easy access over the Skye Bridge and to Broadford.
It could be five years before the hospital is in operation, but the NHS Highland decision will anger campaigners in the north of the island. They have already said they could consider mounting a legal challenge as they believe NHS Highland Managers have had Broadford as the preferred site for a new hospital for years, and the consultation was made to fit that.
Their claim is strenuously denied. The paper before the health board carried a detailed report on the three-month public consultation which showed that 2,273 people completed a survey, with 2:1 in favour of Broadford as the location for a new ??hub?? facility.
Fifty-seven per cent were in favour of the hub being in Broadford and the spoke in Portree, whereas 29 per cent supported Portree as the location for the hub.
Gill McVicar, director of operations for NHS Highland??s north and west operational unit, said there was still some apparent confusion.
??For instance, there has never been a proposal to close Portree Community Hospital," she said.
She said what was being proposed was to close the in-patient beds in Portree as part of the wider redesign.
??Almost all the other existing elements of the hospital will remain unchanged in terms of access and there will be some new developments there. The hospital will be the base for local integrated team, nursing, therapy and social work and there will additional specialist care of the elderly input.
??There has also been some anxiety in the north about possible loss of A&E facilities. It should be made clear that at present Portree Community Hospital is not an A&E facility; rather, it provides minor injury and ailments care. It is not proposed to change this service.??
But Alan MacRae, a member of the North Skye Action Group, said the campaign for Portree would continue. ??I find the whole decision bizarre, what should have been a purely clinical and statistical decision has been infused with local politics, ??he said.
The Scottish Government will make the final decision.
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