Well-placed sources on Skye remained adamant that a new emergency vehicle unveiled in Portree in 2020 is no longer on the island, despite protestations to the contrary by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
It also emerged that the SAS told local MSP Kate Forbes earlier this month that the Rapid Response Vehicle is indeed on Skye.
Following her inquiries in the aftermath of two medical emergencies that happened in Portree as the Skye Live music festival drew to a close, the chief executive of the SAS, Michael Dickson, wrote in his response: “There is a vehicle also on Skye, a Fast Response Vehicle [the same vehicle, according to Ms Forbes’ office] that when we have any additional capacity from the shifts (where our relief capacity is not fully utilised) we could allocate a shift to provide the additional paramedic support on the FRV. This includes when a clinical team leader is on front line clinical supervision time, they cover the vehicle normally the car and they then respond to calls as well as undertaking their normal clinical team leader tasks.
“On Saturday 11th May 2024 all four [ambulance] locations…were fully staffed, all locations staffed with a paramedic and technician on each of the four vehicle locations. There was no additional relief staffing capacity. However, we did have a clinical team leader on shift on the Friday and Saturday on clinical team leaders duties and they were booked on to the FRV from 0800-2000 available to respond, if required, which would be in addition to our core shift cover whilst undertaking their clinical team leader duties.”
One source on Skye, however, said: “No one has seen any Rapid Response unit at Portree Hospital for years and there’s definitely not one there right now.”
Another well-placed source added: “The vehicle that they pictured at the unveiling [in 2020] is not on Skye, certainly not in Portree.”
With reports that the RRV was moved to Fort William at some point over the last four years, the Scottish Ambulance Service refused this week to confirm its location. However, a spokesman asked the Free Press to “refer to our previous correspondence” where they stated that the vehicle was based “out of Portree” but is available to move around the island.