Highlands and Islands MSP Jamie Halcro Johnston has challenged the Scottish Government’s health secretary on figures showing no Advanced Nurse Practitioners were on duty at Portree Hospital on the majority of nights between July and September.
The data, obtained through FOI request by the SOS-NHS Skye campaign demonstrated that on 53 of the 84 nights between 1 July and 22 September 2025, there were no ANPs on duty – including during the Skye Highland Games at Portree in August when thousands of visitors were travelling to the area.
The Conservative MSP raised the issue with health secretary Neil Gray during today’s health questions in the Scottish Parliament.
Speaking after the session, Jamie Halcro Johnston said:
“There is not a single Advanced Nurse Practitioner on duty for most nights, and it is clear that urgent care is not being delivered at Portree as promised.
“This is entirely unacceptable, and the health secretary is kidding himself if he genuinely believes the situation on Skye is improving
“It is far from what the people of north Skye were promised, not only by NHS Highland, but directly by this SNP government.
“The health secretary spoke about honouring Sir Lewis Ritchie’s review of out-of-hours care on Skye and providing reassurance to local residents. These figures, obtained by local campaigners, show that he is doing neither.
“Endless assurances that things are on track when they clearly are not is eroding trust locally. Meanwhile NHS staff have to deal with increased workloads and residents suffer with a downgraded service. It is high time that the Scottish Government and NHS Highland sorted out this mess.”
Jamie Halcro Johnston had the first question at Health Portfolio Questions today [5 Nov] – and coverage is available on Scottish Parliament TV here:
https://scottishparliament.tv/meeting/meeting-of-the-parliament-november-5-2025
