Author: Rhoda Grant

A NORTH MSP is calling on Highland Council to find a silver lining in the Scottish Government’s failure to adequately fund the Uig Harbour improvement scheme.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant last week learned the major upgrade to accommodate the Uig triangle ferry has hit the buffers, thanks to a government funding shortfall.

Strengthening of the council-owned berth is required for the delayed replacement of MV Hebrides.

Council officials told Mrs Grant tenders for the upgrade exceeded the government’s funding allocation.

Mrs Grant has now written to the local authority’s chief executive Donna Manson expressing hope that the council can use the setback to its advantage.

She said: “I want the Council to reassure the community a silver lining lies behind this delay in that it will give its officials the opportunity to use the added time to listen to and work with the community so that changes to improve the final scheme can be made accordingly.”

Hopes were high the Uig triangle ferry would kick-start regeneration in the community and make the harbour more accessible for tourists with disabilities.

The council’s proposal to replace the existing steps sparked an outcry. The council said any scheme to replace the steps with a pontoon would occupy too much pier space as well as being unsuitable for the wave climate in the inner harbour.

However, an online petition pressing the need for a “safer” and more disabled-friendly pontoon option continues to gather support.

And it has also fuelled a petition to the Scottish Parliament’s Petitions Committee which calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that local authorities provide access for those with disabilities at public piers and harbours.

There are also calls in the community for the area occupied by the existing terminal building to be redesigned with retail and starter business units.

Mrs Grant said: “The government’s investment in the Uig Triangle ferry service, which involves a new and improved ferry vessel and major upgrade of Uig Harbour, is enormously important for the future prosperity and growth of the Western Isles. Clearly, the budget and target schedule for the programme have proved unrealistic and I am writing to the Transport Minister Michael Matheson to ask for a complete picture of what went wrong. Construction was due to begin two winters ago and here we are at a standstill with no timeline in sight. It’s back to the drawing board, a total waste of consultancy fees and we find this out the same week Highlands and Islands Enterprise makes its eyewatering announcement Covid-19 has blown a £2.9 billion hole in the Highlands and Islands economy.”

Ends.

Previously…

Highland Council tells Rhoda Grant MSP plans to redevelop Uig pier have been shelved due to a shortfall in Scottish Government project funding.

HIGHLAND Council has said redevelopment plans for Uig Pier have been shelved thanks to a Scottish Government funding shortfall.

The local authority said tenders returned for the project “exceeded the funding allocation from Transport Scotland”.

In a letter to MSP Rhoda Grant this week, council officials said: “Unfortunately, the tenders returned for Uig exceeded the funding allocation from Transport Scotland – and whilst we and Transport Scotland remain committed to provide enhanced facilities at Uig – construction works have been paused whilst we reconsider procurement routes and budgets. This will mean that we will not be able to progress the works and thus the outage that was planned from September of next year will now be deferred for at least 12 months.”

Strengthening of the council-owned berth is required for the delayed replacement of MV Hebrides.

Mrs Grant said while the new pier was not needed right away, this highlighted major concern over the government’s willingness to adequately fund infrastructure projects.

 She said: “The council has made it clear that the tenders are so far out they have had to pull this project for the foreseeable. The community will want to understand what has gone wrong and I am writing to the council and to the government’s Transport Secretary Michael Matheson to get some answers.

It appears the government hasn’t managed to do its sums correctly and has underfunded this scheme.”

 Mrs Grant has been in correspondence with the council and the Equality and Human Rights Commission over the suitability of the scheme for people with disabilities.

She added: “Concerns were raised that the plan to upgrade the pier does not include disabled access the water so I asked Highland Council to give me a commitment that an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) would be undertaken before any works went ahead. When I asked for an update this week I was surprised to be told that it had not been done and that the scheme was being shelved.”

Highlands and Islands MSP, Rhoda Grant, is becoming increasing frustrated at the lack of transparency on the future of Migdale Hospital’s Strathy ward in Bonar Bridge.

When the Sutherland hospital opened in 2011 it had 22 beds with two units – the Strathy ward, for older people with mental health problems, and another offering a range of in-patient services, such as palliative care, general medicine and rehabilitation services.

NHS Highland has told Mrs Grant that to “create capacity to respond to Covid-19, the Strathy ward has now been reconfigured to accept and manage general patients” but stressed it had not closed.

The health authority said mental health provision was also “reconfigured and consolidated” within New Craigs Hospital in Inverness, where the service continued to be delivered.

However, claims from the community suggest for all intents and purposes the ward is closed as it’s no longer in operation, has no patients and will probably not be used for mental health services in the future.

“I am not satisfied with NHS Highland’s previous answers and, by all accounts, neither is the community,” said Mrs Grant, who has also discussed the issue with Unison, one of the unions involved.

“Someone has written: ‘it was sad to see all those empty beds and no-one in the sitting room’. Another said at the last count there were only five or six cars in the car park there.

“I suppose the questions is, what constitutes closure from the perspective of the health authority, against what the public is seeing there?

“When this hospital opened much was made of research into dementia and official visits to other hospitals providing dementia care to build on good practice.

“I certainly hope that those aspirations to provide that sort of service in a rural area have not gone and that Coronavirus is not being used as cover for mental health staff and resources to be diverted by the back door.”

The MSP has been told that only half the hospital is being used and there were concerns that in the future, when Covid-19 abates, older, adult elderly requiring assessment will no longer be cared for close to home in the Strathy ward but will be sent to New Craigs in Inverness.

“Worryingly there are also some claims that patients were discharged to care homes that were not equipped to meet those patients’ needs,” explained Mrs Grant.

“Add to that information that some staff are unhappy, then it’s not a great situation at all for those who work on the front line and for families who want care closer to home.

“I have asked NHS Highland specific questions about the ward and submitted an FOI and await a reply, but every week I am getting contacted with new information and fresh concerns.

“Centralisation of services to Inverness is a big issue for constituents and I am keen to get to the root of what is happening here.”

In July NHS Highland told Mrs Grant there was nearly five nursing posts vacant on the Strathy ward.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, on Friday (11.09.2020) met virtually with Transport Scotland Officials and representatives of WSP, the engineering consultants appointed to carry out a safety study of the A9 between North Kessock and Tore.

 

Speaking after the meeting Rhoda Grant said “Given the concerns that have been raised with me over recent months about the Munlochy junction, it was helpful to be able to speak with the engineering consultants and with officials of Transport Scotland directly about the study being undertaken.

 

“We are in the first phase of the process to examine the safety and operation of the road, the Case for Change phase, in line with Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG). This part of the study involves gathering evidence on problems and potential opportunities for change.

 

If the case for change is made, the study will then look at analytical and stakeholder input. The analytical aspect of the study would involve looking at road safety and traffic patterns in the area. The road safety aspect would look at accident records and evidence of video footage to see how drivers interact with other drivers and with the road at large. Viewing video evidence would highlight ‘near misses’ and would be considered along with the actual accident stats and the volume and speed of traffic.

 

Mrs Grant continued “While current traffic volume is not at usual pre-Covid levels at the minute, using the video evidence from the past will help to show the full picture, should the study progress to the next phase.

 

“I was able to directly feed in the concerns which constituents have raised with me over recent months and I advised of the concerns of traffic travelling north having to cross over two lanes of a busy dual carriageway as well as cars trying to get into the outside lane ahead of the junction, queuing traffic on the dual carriageway and the short slip roads out of the junction.

 

“Constituents are also fearful that nearby housing development will impact on an already busy stretch of road.”

 

Mrs Grant concluded “With public transport links lacking in the north, people often have no other option but to use private cars, and it is imperative that we make sure they are safe to do that by improving these junctions up and down the A9.

 

“Anyone with concerns or views on this should contact me or their Community Council to ensure their views are fed in.”

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has welcomed the news that the court case relating to the roll out of the Scottish Government’s R100 contract in the Highlands and Islands has been settled, saying this now gives the Scottish Government no further excuse for getting properties in the Highlands and Islands connected to superfast broadband.
The Labour MSP said “Since the SNP came to power in 2007, I, and my former colleague, Peter Peacock, have campaigned vigorously for improvement to broadband connections in the Highlands and Islands.
“Excuse after excuse has been given by SNP ministers for this not happening, in spite of it being one of their manifesto pledges in 2016, in 2017 and in 2019.
“This court ruling now leaves the SNP with nowhere to hide.
Mrs Grant continued “Our communities throughout the Highlands and Islands have been crying out for years for better broadband, or indeed in some cases, any broadband.
“Highlands and Islands Enterprise did the best job they possibly could in getting broadband out round our region but they need the proper financial resources to do this.
“Indeed the Rural Economy Secretary, Fergus Ewing, said he would quit if the broadband pledge wasn’t met by 2021. He should now reflect on this and ensure the money needed gets directed to the Highlands and Islands without any further delay.
“Our communities desperately need it, even more so now with Covid meaning that everyone is relying is more on internet connections, for learning, for business, for health consultations and for social purposes. The SNP need to finally show the people of the Highlands and Islands that they matter and get these connections rolled out to our communities.”

MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee have today (Sept 10) agreed to hear evidence from a leading Consultant Neurosurgeon to support an Inverness campaigner’s petition for the introduction of focus ultra sound technology to Scotland to treat people with Essential Tremor.

Mary Ramsay, from Dalneigh, Chair of the Scottish Tremor Society, is asking the Scottish Government to back the provision of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) equipment costing an estimated £1.6million.

Today her MSP, Labour’s Rhoda Grant, spoke to the cross-party committee asking for the petition to be kept open and highlighting that campaigners were keen that the committee hear oral evidence from Professor Dipankar Nandi, a leading medical expert in the field, and also view a short video of a patient’s experience of the treatment.

Committee Convener, Johann Lamont MSP, said there was a consensus that there was still an issue to be followed up and the committee would seek to hear from the Professor, if not in person but by some other means.

Mrs Ramsay, who watched the virtual session from home on parliamentary television, said afterwards she was in tears at some of the emotional statements from MSPs.

“I’m absolutely delighted that the petition is remaining open and that they are going to hear from the professor. I am also hopeful that they will see the video on Geoff Sleight the patient who has benefited from the treatment. It’s quite remarkable the difference it has made to his life.

“I will not give up until this is available on the NHS.”

During the committee session, Mrs Grant, who represents the Highlands and Islands, said there was a definite sense of frustration that magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) technology was not yet available in Scotland but was in England and in other places throughout the world.

“Add to this, an energetic fund-raising campaign to make this equipment available to the whole of Scotland and you can see why the campaigners with Essential Tremor and their families are anxious that this committee and the Scottish Government really recognise the benefits of the therapy and how it can also save a huge amount of money to the NHS,” she said.

She explained the Scottish Government was aware that clinicians in Dundee were currently exploring the purchase of equipment and there were discussions are ongoing with NHS Scotland National Services Division about the development of a service.

Mrs Grant added: “Mary Ramsay asked me to make a plea to this committee to keep pushing for the technology to be available here. She says: ‘For me, and my part, if focussed ultrasound helps anyone to avoid what I went through, I will fight to my last breath to get it’. That is a measure of the petitioner to be honest. This is not going to benefit her, but she will not let up in making sure that nobody has to go through what she went through.”

The committee members, including Caithness, Sutherland and Ross MSP, Gail Ross, and North East MSP, Tom Mason, who has Parkinson’s, agreed they wanted to hear more about the treatment and backed keeping the petition open.

1. Mrs Ramsay (64) has Essential Tremor and has undergone Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), where electrodes are placed in her brain to help alleviate the condition.  Focus ultra sound is cheaper and less invasive. However, Mrs Ramsay would not benefit from focus ultrasound as it would be too risky to reverse DBS. Her condition causes involuntary and rhythmic shaking and can affect almost any part of the body.

1. Fundraising for the equipment is being run by the University of Dundee. The technology uses MRI imaging to guide high powered, focused ultrasound to a very small point. At that point, molecules are vibrated extremely quickly, which creates intense local heat which destroys the tissue. The technology allows clinicians to target a very specific focal point – with very little heating produced in front of and behind that point, so only the targeted tissue is affected.

Essential tremor [ET] has no known cause. It is most common in the elderly but two-thirds in a recent survey developed symptoms of ET before the age of 50. ET affects both sexes and all ethnic groups and children.

People with ET may be so embarrassed by their tremor that they do not leave their home and become depressed. This embarrassment may impact on jobs and income. As many as 25% of patients are forced to retire prematurely, and in one study 60% said they had chosen not to apply for a job or promotion because of uncontrollable shaking. In a recent UK survey by the National Tremor Foundation, almost 20% of respondents had to stop working completely, 7% had to change occupation, and 6% had to reduce their working hours. In that survey, 12% said that they did not go out to socialise, 31% did so rarely, and 45% did go out but felt self-conscious. Only 12% said that their tremor did not significantly impact their social life. 18% of respondents felt that they were a burden on their family, 21% reported a severe impact on their mental health, 26% reported poor self-esteem, and 15% considered that ET had negatively affected their physical fitness. If the tremor becomes severe, the patient even may become unable to feed or toilet independently and require residential care or a carer at home.

At present, the only non-pharmacological treatment for severe tremor that is having an unacceptable effect on someone’s quality of life is deep brain stimulation (DBS): as DBS is invasive surgery in which wires are permanently inserted into the brain, some people are not suitable for it because of other diseases (comorbidities) and some do not feel able to consent to a procedure which involves permanent implants and lifelong supervision.

Celebrating the 8,614 potential lifesavers in the Highlands and Islands this Blood Cancer Awareness Month

 

To mark Blood Cancer Awareness Month this September, Rhoda Grant MSP took part in a digital ‘Day of Action’ to celebrate the number of potential stem cell donors in the Highlands and Islands on the Anthony Nolan register and raise awareness of the urgent need for more donors in light of the challenges to donor recruitment presented by the pandemic.

 

This day was marked by Anthony Nolan on Wednesday 9 September, as part of its Communities vs Blood Cancer campaign, which shines a spotlight on vital work being done locally to ensure that every patient in need of a stem cell transplant can find a lifesaving donor.

 

Anthony Nolan’s lifesaving work has been greatly enhanced at a local level by the charity’s eleven-year partnership with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, who undertake vital work in schools through the SFRS Education Programme.

 

In the Highlands and Islands, 8,614 potential stem cell donors are registered with Anthony Nolan. 23% of these donors are men aged 16-30, and the average age is 32.

 

In total, more than 800,000 people in the UK are on the Anthony Nolan register, any of whom could be a match for someone with blood cancer and asked to donate their stem cells to give a patient a second chance of life.

 

Now, Rhoda Grant is encouraging more people from the Highlands and Islands, particularly men aged 16-30 and people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds, to register as stem cell donors and make sure that a match is available for everyone in need of a transplant. While anyone on the register could be a match for someone with blood cancer, men aged 16-30 are most likely to be asked to donate. They provide more than 50% of donations yet make up just 18% of the register. There is also a shortage of donors from non-white and mixed-race backgrounds.

 

Rhoda Grant MSP said: “I am very proud that the Highlands and Islands has 8,614 registered donors, any one of whom could offer the only chance of giving someone with blood cancer a second chance at life. Donating stem cells is straightforward but it could make an enormous difference to someone with no other chance of a cure.”

 

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan, said: “In the last year 977 selfless Scots from the Highlands and Islands joined the Anthony Nolan register, each one representing hope for patients with blood cancer, and blood disorders, in need of matching stem cell donors.

 

“This Blood Cancer Awareness Month residents can be proud of all the lifesavers in your community. To everyone from the Highlands and Islands who has taken the decision to join the register, thank you. It is vital we recruit more ethnically-diverse, young, male, donors to ensure everyone who needs a transplant can access one. Without you, there is no cure.”

 

For more information on Anthony Nolan visit anthonynolan.org/join.

 

Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential stem cell donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a stem cell transplant. It also carries out vital research to make stem cell transplants more successful, and supports patients through their transplant journeys.

 

 

A Scottish Parliament committee will hear more submissions this Thursday (September 10) on an Inverness campaigner’s petition supporting the introduction of a focus ultra sound scanner to Scotland to treat people with Essential Tremor.

Mary Ramsay, from Dalneigh, Chair of the Scottish Tremor Society, is asking the Scottish Government to back the provision of magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) technology.

Mrs Ramsay’s petition will be heard at the Public Petitions Committee and she is backed by Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, who has been a long-time supporter of the cause.

Previously the Public Petitions Committee agreed that the treatment had benefits and went back to the Scottish Government to ask why a decision has stalled, what was needed to achieve the introduction of the treatment and what the timescales were.

Mrs Ramsay (64), who has Essential Tremor, said: “I am really pinning my hopes that at last there will be movement on this by the Government.

“The effects of Essential Tremor can have a serious impact on a person’s life, with lack of understanding and awareness of the condition leading to ineffective treatment but also bullying. I want to prevent any child or adult going through verbal and physical abuse like I did.

“It is estimated that there could be 4000 people in Scotland with Essential Tremor. The main treatment at the moment is brain surgery or deep brain stimulation (DBS) which some people with the condition do not want to endure and DBS is expensive. The focus scanner is cheaper and is also a much less invasive procedure.”

Mrs Ramsay, who will be watching the committee virtually from her home, has had DBS. Her condition causes involuntary and rhythmic shaking and can affect almost any part of the body. She would not benefit from the ultra sound treatment but is passionate that others could.

Mrs Grant added: “At a time when the NHS is under severe pressure, I really believe that this innovation, which is already up and running in England, would not only save money in the long term but would really improve the quality of life for thousands of people.

“Mary has been a fantastic campaigner and has never given up and it would be a great day for her if she achieved her aim to help others.”

The MSP achieved cross-party support for a Scottish Parliament debate on Mary’s campaign in 2018.

• Fundraising for the scanner is being run by the University of Dundee. The technology uses MRI imaging to guide high powered, focused ultrasound to a very small point. At that point, molecules are vibrated extremely quickly, which creates intense local heat which destroys the tissue. The technology allows clinicians to target a very specific focal point – with very little heating produced in front of and behind that point, so only the targeted tissue is affected.
• Essential tremor [ET] has no known cause. It is most common in the elderly but two-thirds in a recent survey developed symptoms of ET before the age of 50. ET affects both sexes and all ethnic groups and children.
• People with ET may be so embarrassed by their tremor that they do not leave their home and become depressed. This embarrassment may impact on jobs and income. As many as 25% of patients are forced to retire prematurely, and in one study 60% said they had chosen not to apply for a job or promotion because of uncontrollable shaking. In a recent UK survey by the National Tremor Foundation, almost 20% of respondents had to stop working completely, 7% had to change occupation, and 6% had to reduce their working hours. In that survey, 12% said that they did not go out to socialise, 31% did so rarely, and 45% did go out but felt self-conscious. Only 12% said that their tremor did not significantly impact their social life. 18% of respondents felt that they were a burden on their family, 21% reported a severe impact on their mental health, 26% reported poor self-esteem, and 15% considered that ET had negatively affected their physical fitness. If the tremor becomes severe, the patient even may become unable to feed or toilet independently and require residential care or a carer at home.
• At present, the only non-pharmacological treatment for severe tremor that is having an unacceptable effect on someone’s quality of life is deep brain stimulation (DBS): as DBS is invasive surgery in which wires are permanently inserted into the brain, some people are not suitable for it because of other diseases (comorbidities) and some do not feel able to consent to a procedure which involves permanent implants and lifelong supervision.

 

 

 

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, has welcomed the commencement of a safety study on the A9 trunk road between North Kessock and Tore on the Black Isle.

The MSP has been calling for improvements at the Munlochy junction on this stretch of road since she was contacted by constituents who use the road regularly.

Mrs Grant said “Constituents contacted me with suggestions on how to make the junction safer and I have fed these in to the Transport Secretary and to Transport Scotland.

“I know the level of concern there is locally about having to cross the busy A9 dual carriageway to either enter or leave the Munlochy junction when travelling north and I am arranging to speak directly with the consultants who have been appointed to carry out the study of the area.

“I am pleased to see this next step taking place and I very much hope further safety measures will be introduced as a result.” she continued.

 

Regional Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has said the announcement that Home Farm Care Home on Skye is being taken over by NHS Highland is “extremely welcome”.

Home Farm had been under NHS supervision since May, after the home suffered a severe COVID-19 outbreak in which 10 residents died.

The facility had been operated by the private care provider HC-One.

The NHS stepped in to manage the home  when a court action brought by the Care Inspectorate saw the provider’s license for the site temporarily revoked.

It came after an unannounced inspection triggered by the COVID outbreak found “serious concerns” about care standards.

The legal action was dropped in August after the Inspectorate found “significant improvement” had been made.

Mrs Grant said it was good to know the care home had a secure future.

However, she has voiced concerns over the “secrecy that surrounds what happened” there.

She said: “There are probably many more care homes which need to be taken into public hands but what’s worrying me is all the secrecy that surrounds what happened in that home. The public needs to know if we are going to be able to move forward to protect our care homes in the future.”

Mrs Grant has requested a formal review of the Care Inspectorate’s decision to refuse to provide her with information she previously requested.

She said her repeated attempts to see the reports that the Care Inspection lodged with Inverness Sheriff Court when it dropped its court case against the care home owners HC-One were turned down on the basis they were not ready for publication.

Three reports have, however, been published today on the Care Inspectorate website.

But Mrs Grant said the delay was unacceptable and questions remain to be answered.

“The Care Inspectorate had previously informed me that these reports were not ready for publication which seems extraordinary since they should have provided some of the key evidence submitted to the Sheriff Court. While I am delighted they have now been published, serious questions that remain to be answered about whether they have been subsequently altered for public consumption. It might be that neither the Care Inspectorate, who had failed to check on Home Farm despite knowing there were serious infection control issues in January, nor the provider HC-One, had wanted their dirty washing aired to be in court. But if we are to prevent further tragic and unnecessary care home deaths in future, we need to know what went wrong.”

The MSP said she had been raising multiple questions around the matter for months.

She added: “My request for a breakdown of the costs of NHS Highland’s take-over project since March was turned down under Freedom of Information but I have appealed this decision. I want to know whether HC-One is being asked to foot any of this bill.

“I also asked the Scottish Government’s health secretary Jeane Freeman whether checks had revealed the source of the Home Farm Covid outbreak. I wanted to know whether it had been transmitted by infected patients who were transferred into the home from Raigmore Hospital. But Mrs Freeman said this information is not known.

“This, again, beggar’s belief. What we need now are dates of all admissions to Home Farm from hospital. We need to know whether those older people had been tested or not and we need to know the date Home Farm first reported Covid cases to the care inspectorate and those are questions I am asking.”

Ends.

Transport Scotland has written to Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant saying that there will now be a delay in putting up new speed limit signs on the A9 Tain bypass.

“While this is frustrating for all those campaigners who welcomed the new 50mph limit on this stretch, I can understand why Covid-19 has had an effect on ordering the signs,” said Mrs Grant.

“However, it’s good to know the groundwork is taking place to speed up the process when the signs arrive.

“I would just like to emphasise that before the new speed limit was brought in, there were consultations with the community council, the police and local authority.

“Transport Scotland has confirmed a further investigation into long-term options for the Lidl and Asda junctions are progressing and will also consider the community’s idea of roundabouts at this location.”

 

Transport Scotland said: “Further to our letter of 30 July, we have been advised by BEAR Scotland that their specialist supplier of traffic signs is currently managing a backlog of orders as a result of Covid-19 related factory closures and demand for signage for new active travel projects. As a result, the installation of speed limit signs on the A9 Tain Bypass has been delayed by approximately four to six weeks, based on timescales quoted by BEAR Scotland’s suppliers. To mitigate against these delays, BEAR Scotland commenced construction of sign foundations and posts on Friday 28 August, in advance of delivery of the signs, allowing installation to be expedited once these are received.

We have reinforced the importance of these works at Tain to both BEAR Scotland and their sign suppliers and have been assured that the new speed limit signage will be in place as soon as possible.”