FMQs: John Swinney offers apology and 'deep concern' at woman's Isle of Skye near death emergency

Opposition party leaders Douglas Ross, Anas Sarwar and Alex Cole-Hamilton all targeted John Swinney with questions on health issues

John Swinney has demanded emergency care on Skye returns to a 24/7 service after raising his “deep concern” after a woman feared for her life following a severe allergic reaction.

Eilidh Beaton’s airway closed at a pub in Portree after leaving the Skye Live Festival. She told the Press and Journal she feared she would “not be here tomorrow”.

All three of the island’s available ambulances were on other calls and Portree Community Hospital – reportedly just a few hundred yards from where Ms Beaton was – was closed. Ms Beaton’s partner reportedly threw stones at the hospital’s windows in an attempt to alert any NHS staff in the closed hospital to the incident.

An aerial view of Portree, on the Isle of Skye, where the woman suffered an allergic reaction at a pub. Picture: Getty Images

A 2018 review by Dr Sir Lewis Ritchie recommended the out-of-hours service at Portree Hospital should be available 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. Despite operating as such from 2018 to 2021, it has not for the past three years.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross raised Ms Beaton’s case at First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) on Thursday and pressed Mr Swinney over whether he agreed “this should never be allowed to happen”.

Mr Swinney told the Tory leader that “I agree with Mr Ross, this should never have happened”.

He added: “As Mr Ross will be aware, Portree Hospital is not operating currently as a 24/7 emergency facility. Sir Lewis Ritchie recommended some years ago that it should be and it is a matter of deep concern to the Government that that has not happened.

John Swinney attends First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

“The health secretary spoke to the leadership of NHS Highland yesterday to make it clear that we want that to happen at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Mr Ross warned that “it should never have gotten to that stage”. In response, Mr Swinney highlighted the hospital had been operating round the clock from 2018 to 2021, but had not been open overnight since then – a move he accepted was “not good enough”.

Mr Swinney added: “I understand the genuine concern that Mr Ross is expressing to Parliament today and I take that very seriously.”

Health secretary Neil Gray, Mr Swinney added, had spoken to NHS Highland leaders to “insist those arrangements must be put in place”.

But Mr Ross claimed the case was an example of a “crisis” in rural healthcare across the country. He said: “There are blackspots across Scotland where urgent treatment is often unavailable, there are sometimes no ambulances if you live in the wrong place, there is a postcode lottery for emergency care. This crisis is costing lives and putting people at risk.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton also pressed the First Minister on the difficulties Ms Beaton faced getting care.

Telling Mr Swinney the emergency care system in Skye had “collapsed” over the weekend, he said Ms Beaton had suffered a “life-threatening” anaphylactic shock “virtually on the door step of Portree Hospital”.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said lifeboat volunteers had been “hammering on the doors” of the facility, while “her boyfriend literally threw rocks at the windows of the hospital”.

The Lib Dem demanded: “Why has it taken six years, and a near fatality, for this Government to finally lift the phone of NHS Highland about emergency care on Skye?”

Mr Swinney reiterated that what had happened at the weekend was “unacceptable”, adding the recommendations for round-the-clock care to be provided at Portree “should have been implemented consistently”.

While saying this had been met for three years, Mr Swinney accepted: “That’s not good enough, it certainly wasn’t good enough at the weekend. So that issue has been addressed directly by the health secretary in his dialogue with NHS Highland.”

A spokesperson for NHS Highland said it had met local campaigners on the issue in Portree last month and it was “helpful to hear and understand the concerns of community members”.

The spokesperson said: “The new CEO Fiona Davies and chair Sarah Compton-Bishop underlined our commitment to completing the outstanding recommendations of the Sir Lewis Ritchie review, including urgent care provision in north Skye.

“The need for improved communication is fully acknowledged and the launch of the new District Planning Group for Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross earlier this month will help us to continue to work collaboratively with the local communities.

“We will be liaising with the Scottish Ambulance Service in relation to this incident as part of our investigations and to take forward any learning for both organisations.”

The comments were made as Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said Mr Swinney must not “pass the buck” on the challenges facing the health service. In his previous roles as finance secretary and deputy first minister, Mr Swinney had said he was upfront with the public on the situation within the NHS.

However during FMQs, Mr Sarwar said the Government’s “financial mismanagement” had created a £1.4 billion black hole in the health sector. Mr Sarwar also accused the First Minister of using a “get-out-of-jail-free card” by blaming the UK government instead of accepting responsibility.

He said Inverclyde patients faced a 50-mile round trip for overnight appointments after the region’s out-of-hour GP services closed, while tens of millions had been cut from social care, primary care and mental health services.

“Stop passing the buck,” he said. “Stop looking for somebody else to blame.”

Mr Swinney said his Government was committed to supporting the NHS and he denied dodging responsibility.

He said: “I will never evade the responsibility for my actions as a minister – never. It’s not in my character to do so. But I will be straight with Parliament and the public in Scotland.”