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The out-of-hours service at Portree Hospital will be suspended over the festive season.
NHS Highland announced that the service at the Minor Injuries Unit/Urgent Care Centre will be suspended for "some time" starting on the week beginning Monday 25 December. NHS Highland cite "escalating staffing problems" as the reason for the suspension, stating: "The decision has had to be made following safety concerns raised by senior clinicians over the number of available qualified staff, especially advanced nursing practitioners (ANPs), at Portree.
"Normally the MIU/Urgent Care Centre operates from 8am to 11pm every day. Unfortunately, because there is no ANP staffing cover, the current position is that it will be closed all day on Tuesday 26th December 2017. In addition, on Wednesday 27th December 2017 it will close at 6pm and on Sunday 31st December it will close at 8pm. During these times cover will be provided by the Rural Practitioner Team based at the Dr MacKinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford.
"Senior clinicians who cover the service were unanimous that unless a clinician is based in Portree who is able to 'See, Treat and Discharge', it is safer to provide the service from a single site at Dr Mackinnon Memorial Hospital. While we appreciate this will not be popular, it was felt that there is a greater risk of clinical error if Portree patients are managed remotely without a senior practitioner onsite.
Read more: No out-of-hours cover at Portree Hospital over the festive season
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Kyleakin bus stop regularly provides shelter - but last night (Thursday 21 December) it was a temporary homeless shelter (almost.)
Sarah-Jane Reid took to the shelter, along with Gordon MacDonald and Laura Mackenzie, to raise awareness of homelessness and raise money for the charity, Social Bite.
Sarah-Jane told The Skye Times: "Doing this is a taster of what people are going through every night. After living in the cities and seeing what people go through, you really feel sorry for the homeless."
Sarah-Jane's JustGiving page can be found here.
Read more: Kyleakin bus stop becomes temporary home for fundraiser
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Skye-based organisation, ATLAS Arts, have been shortlisted for a rural award.
The organisation were selected for a 2018 Scottish Rural Award in the Conservation and the Environment category because of their commitment to exploring environmental issues.
The organisation say that a prime example of their environmental ethos can be seen in their long-term project; CLIMAVORE: On Tidal Zones. The project, which started in 2016, was initiated to enhance and protect Skye's ocean and land, as well as engaging with national conversations regarding sustainability, promoting biodiversity and suggesting future rural economies.
ATLAS director, Emma Nicolson, stated: “We are delighted to be recognised in this way. It shows our commitment to exploring rural issues and concerns through our work with artists. Cooking Sections were great collaborators and enabled us to work with many local partners to deliver this project.”
Above image: Alon and Daniel of Cooking Section standing on top of the oyster table in Bayfield. Photograph by Ruth Clark.
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Kate Forbes MSP has hit out at "scandalous" delivery charges to the Highlands, after new figures revealed her constituents are thought to be paying almost £4m extra a year compared to the rest of the UK.
According to new research from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe), those living in the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency – which also includes Dingwall, the Black Isle and the Great Glen – pay an estimated £3.8m more – and the figure for the entire Highlands and Islands is a whopping £33.4m.
Kate Forbes MSP said enough is enough, and urged the UK Government to act and end rip-off charges for Highlanders.
She said: "The scandal of retailers charging almost £4 million to customers in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch has never looked like such a rip-off.
"That means that customers who have purchased goods online this Christmas have paid over the odds and lined the pockets of retailers and delivery firms who think nothing of over-charging Highland consumers.
"It is, and always has been, an absolute disgrace and it is long overdue for the UK Government to act.
"If the Scottish Government had the powers to do something about surcharges, they would have long ago and it is really only public pressure that has pushed the UK Government into lifting a finger about this.
"Almost £4 million across Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch could have been spent in the local economy and made an enormous difference."
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A road traffic accident has badly delayed traffic in Inverness.
The accident took place on the Longman Road near to the Police Station. Police have advised that, given the heavier than usual festive traffic, there will be significant delays throughout the city.
Police will endeavour to deal with the incident as quickly as possible, but state that a degree of patience on the behalf of the driving public will be required.
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Skye & Lochalsh Council for Voluntary Organisations (SLCVO) will be heading for Kyle early in 2018.
The organisation offers help to non-profit groups with volunteer recruitment and development, strategy and project planning, networking, marketing, funding and training programmes.
SLCVO will be in Kyle from 10 January to 28 March and will be open every Wednesday at the Lighthouse Centre from 10am to 2pm.
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Remaining Christmas displays will not be put up, Broadford and Strath Community Company say.
The decision comes after an act of vandalism which destroyed the lights on the Broadford footbridge.
The community organisation hope that they will be able to set up a new strategy for 2018. Meanwhile, anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101.
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Local police are seeking information on an abandoned car near Achachork, Portree.
The silver Volkswagen Polo was found, crashed and abandoned, on Tuesday 19 December.
Police have asked anyone who saw the crash or knows who was driving to call anonymously on 101.
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The constituency MSP for Raasay and Skye has described the lack of progress from NHS Highland to find agreed out-of-hours healthcare cover for the Isle of Raasay as "utterly exasperating".
After a series of constructive meetings with the island community in the first half of the year, which included an assurance from David Alston, chair of the NHS Highland board, to find a solution quickly, there is still no out-of-hours, urgent cover.
Kate Forbes MSP has now voiced her frustration about the sorry saga, and has also raised the situation with the Scottish Government.
The MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch said: "As we approach the end of 2017, I'm immensely frustrated that Raasay still does not have cover out-of-hours.
"This time last year, NHS Highland agreed to my request for a series of meetings with Raasay community members to design a service for Raasay.
"We then had four successful meetings in the first half of the year, at which NHS Highland agreed that Raasay needed a suitably qualified professional to cover out-of-hours."
Read more: Raasay out of hours saga “utterly exasperating” says Kate Forbes
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Individuals and schools from the Isle of Skye and Raasay have received recognition of the important contribution they make to their communities during the Eilean a’ Cheò Civic Awards held in Portree yesterday (Monday 18 December).
This is the seventh year of the Awards which are organised by the Ward 10 Eilean a' Cheò Councillors to recognise people from all age groups and walks of life who have contributed to the success and wellbeing of their local communities.
The Arts/Music Award was presented to Dinah Rankin from Kilmaluag who was nominated by Kilmuir Community Council.
They say: “Dinah is totally committed to the Trotternish area, and works tirelessly to support and encourage the children of the area, specifically over the past year when she has run an after-school club to prepare children for the Local and National Mods.
“Clann Throndairnis enjoyed huge success in Fort William at the National Mod with the children winning a huge haul of medals for group and individual performances – a great achievement for a small community. This is all thanks to Dinah, who coached and encouraged the children and coordinated a massive voluntary endeavour from a number of people within the community.”
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