A remote Scottish community has had one of its two emergency response vehicles ‘taken out of commission’ after vandals smashed part of a windscreen with a glass bottle.
Bosses at NHS Western Isles said “words escaped them” after discovering the damage to the unit while it was parked on a street in Stornoway on Sunday.
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An image posted on Twitter shows the vehicle - one of only two in use by the health board to reach patients as quickly as possible - with a partially impacted windscreen while a shattered alcohol bottle lies on the street nearby.
NHS Western Isles has two emergency vehicles for a range of emergency responses, not least Coronavirus. Vehicles much needed at this time.
— NHS Western Isles (@NHSWI) March 22, 2020
One of our two vehicles is now out of commission.
This beggars belief, words escape us. pic.twitter.com/gnxcp6DpYw
It came on the day Scotland announced the number of people diagnosed with the Covid-19 strain of Coronavirus had risen to 416, with ten people sadly passing away as a result of the illness.
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The health board posted: “NHS Western Isles has two emergency vehicles for a range of emergency responses, not least Coronavirus. Vehicles much needed at this time. One of our two vehicles is now out of commission. This beggars belief, words escape us.”
The Western Isles and Orkney are the only two Scottish health boards not to declare a case of the disease in their communities.
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