A HEALTH board should not send staff out in "dangerous" weather, a fatal accident inquiry has heard.
Speech therapist Lorna Macdonald, of Cross Street, Stornoway, died after her vehicle plunged into a loch in a storm in Harris in November 2011. The 26-year-old was driving home after seeing a patient in Leverburgh.
Giving evidence at the inquiry in Stornoway yesterday, Miss Macdonald's mother, Peigi Flora Macdonald, said Western Isles Health Board should have "prevented anybody going out in such conditions". Mrs Macdonald said the health board closed some departments that afternoon due to the weather.
Mark Fitzpatrick, the advocate representing the health body, said that was not accurate. He said: "I understand bad weather is not unknown in this part of the north of Scotland."
Mrs Macdonald replied: "People in the Western Isles are now more weather aware than they were now someone has lost their life to the conditions."
The inquiry, at Stornoway Sheriff Court, continues.
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