Group
leader Gordon Murray stated: “This is not acceptable.
To continue to avoid funding the Bethesda Hospice
is putting the whole service at risk. The Health Board has
underfunded this important facility in our community for eleven years and it
looks like the IJB are minded to continue this injustice. The inability to plan
for the long-term future ,and rather look at the short-term
economics, seems to be the culture in officialdom in the islands with the
closure of schools etc. The decision, or
lack of a decision, to continue discussions, is
testament to that.”
Councillor
Murray continued: “This community, which has
one of the lowest average incomes in Scotland, has
been hugely generous to Bethesda when the Health
Board should have been paying what was expected of them. What will happen when
the Hospice closes? Will families have to fly off to hospices on the mainland? We cannot allow the uncertainty
over our hospice to continue and I would urge the IJB to do the right thing and fund the £138,000 that is urgently needed to
ensure the service is saved.”
