Letter from Cllr Macmillan And Cllr Donald Manford on Uist Dentistry and labour strategy

Sirs,

The Western Isles NHS decision on Uist dental closures is the tactical part of the strategic decision by Western Isles NHS to close Uist Hospital by locating the dental chairs in the operating theatre suite.


This strategic option to close the Uist Hospital Operating theatre suite was made many years ago and publicly announced though the closure programme of the dental surgeries and implemented through a policy of obfuscation and misinformation.

This strategic policy to close the medical provision in Uist Hospital continues.

The Comhairle Convenor, Norman Mac Donald of Uig and North Lochs Ward voted at the IJB meeting to close the dental service delivered in the South Uist and in North Uist. This intolerable situation is compounded by Rhoda Grant MSP (Labour List), calling for an inquiry to take the focus off her Labour Party colleague who voted with Western Isles NHS directors to get the situation to this current debacle. Convenor Norman Mac Donald was a candidate for the Labour Party nomination at the last Westminster Parliamentary Election and exposure of his actions in closing the Uist Hospital by converting the operating theatre suite to accommodate dental chairs will deplete the Labour Party vote in Uist at the forthcoming election.

Centralising the dental chairs into the Uist Hospital is a flanking move to close Uist Hospital Operating Theatre Suite. The SNP Comhairle Group proposed a Budget Setting Amendment in February to dedicate Comhairle money to provisioning the designed room in Taigh Cridhe Uile Nhaobh in Daliburgh as the dental surgery to replace the Loch Boisdale Surgery. The Loch Maddy dental surgery was to continue as before. The formal budget proposal was supported by the two SNP councillors in the Barra and South Uist Ward and the five SNP councillors from Lewis and Harris. The remaining Uist and Barra councillors voted against the proposal to provision the dental surgery in Daliburgh.

Rhoda Grant MSP (Labour List), has requested an inquiry and this a politically motivated diversionary tactic designed to prevent the truth about Labour Party councillors voting to close the medical provision at Uist Hospital. Rhoda Grant MSP (Labour List) should instead call for the Western Isles NHS to start telling the truth, to publish the voting record of the IJB meetings and explain the real reason for centralising the dental chairs into the Uist Hospital which is to close the Operating Theatre and Resuscitation Room to remove the medical capacity from the hospital. The focus of any investigation must therefore be directed at the Western Isles NHS and the IJB Comhairle representatives and Councillors who voted to effectively close the medical provision in the Uist Hospital.

The fact that Rhoda Grant MSP misses this most obvious point and attempts to divert the focus onto the red herring of a public enquires requires explanation to establish whether she had any prior knowledge of the strategic decision to close the medical cover provided at the Uist Hospital.

Uist has a great number of people gaining meaningful employment through cultivating and harvesting the land and the sea. This means working fishing boats, fish-farm boats and tractors during the long day and short day season in all weather. This frequently means lone-working with livestock, machinery and boats in what are potentially dangerous circumstances. This working environment is compounded by the necessity of vehicles driving in opposite directions along the same single track main road. These conditions are a recipe for accidents, and though we hope these accidents never happen, it requires that the Uist Hospital Operating Theatre Suite is retained to save lives and not used to accommodate dental chairs. To remove the medical capacity from Uist Hospital will mean it has less of a medical facility than every rig, semi and ship in the North Sea. This lack of provision is not acceptable, yet Rhoda Grant MSP (Labour List) is trying to hide the blame and divert the focus for political purposes to suit the purposes of the forthcoming Westminster election.

Yours faithfully

Calum Mac Millan, SNP Comhairle Group, South Uist and Barra Ward.
Donald Manford, SNP Comhairle Group, South Uist and Barra Ward.