NHS Highland has said the Portree Urgent Care Centre will be available for extended hours on weekends and public holidays beginning from this evening (Friday 19th July).
Urgent care will be available by appointment only between 18.30 – 23.59 on Friday and between 08.30 – 23.59 on Saturday, Sundays and Public Holidays.
Campaigners have been demanding that 24/7 out of hours services at Portree Hospital be restored in line with recommendations made in a report in 2018.
NHS Highland said the new extension is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP)-led, non-emergency, appointment-based, out-of-hours primary care service and will assess patients who cannot wait until their GP surgery next opens.
Anyone requiring urgent care should always call NHS 24 on 111 before attending the urgent care centre.
People may be asked to contact 111 to arrange an appointment if appropriate and in an emergency to always call 999.
Louise Bussell, NHS Highland’s Nurse Director, said: “This is a significant step towards delivering one of the recommendations outlined in Sir Lewis Ritchie’s report.
“We will continue to keep the community updated on developments as we work to ensure the Urgent Care Centre is open seven-days-a-week.”
The new model for 24/7 urgent care access will be available from mid-August.
Pressure on the health authority to act increased as a result of the outcry which followed two medical emergencies – one a fatality – that happened as the Skye Live music festival drew to a close on Saturday 11th May.
Their new proposed model for urgent care, to be fully implemented as of 16th August, is for “Portree Hospital to be accessed by appointment for urgent care, and only by exception for self-presentation with appropriate access via buzzer/intercom arrangement.” This will apply during the day.
Between 6.30pm and midnight, the service will be “Advanced Practitioner appointments available from Portree Hospital and home visits across north Skye.”
Between midnight and 8am, the preferred model of cover will be “111 triage with appointments in Broadford or a home visit across Skye.”
NHS Highland has said the Scottish Government are supportive of the proposed model and have agreed to additional funding to increase ward staff capacity overnight.
Further information is available here on NHS website.