Final approval has been given for a new hospital to be built on Skye at Broadford, despite campaigners in the north of the island calling for it to be located in the Skye capital Portree.
There are currently small hospitals in both locations, the 20 bed Dr MacKinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford and the 12 bed Portree Hospital which has the local GP practice in it.
Consequently there has been a north v south debate on the island over decades as to which should be the site of a new hospital, which also has to serve areas on the mainland who have favoured Broadford, as have communities in south Skye.
However campaigners for Portree had said they would consider mounting a legal challenge as they believed NHS Highland managers had Broadford as their preferred site for a new hospital for years, and the consultation was made to fit that.
Indeed just days ago Portree Community Council and others wrote to the Health Secretary Shona Robison asking her to set up an Independent Scrutiny Panel to examine NHS's Highland's plans.
Ms Robison wasn't persuaded and instead approved NHS Highland's "exciting proposals"
The go-ahead will mean the construction of a new hospital, known as a 'hub' facility, in Broadford and the provision of a 'spoke' facility in Portree.
The Broadford hub will have X-ray and endoscopy facilities, and be able to carry out minor operations. It will also have inpatient beds and offer outpatient chemotherapy, orthopaedic and chest services.
Portree will have a Primary Care Emergency Centre with GP and nurse cover for minor ailments and injuries.
Ms Robison wrote to NHS Highland saying: "I am content that the proposals are consistent with national policy and will provide modern, fit-for-purpose services for the benefit of local people in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross."
She added that she was also pleased that "NHS Highland conducted this process in a meaningful and inclusive way, providing local people with numerous and reasonable opportunities to express their views".
She went on to acknowledge the concerns raised by some local people about both the preferred location of the 'hub' and the service specification of the 'spoke'.
"It is understandable that local communities will favour the maximum provision of services as close to their homes as possible," she wrote.
She also recognised some concern that the board's model would mean the concentration of in-patient beds at the 'hub' site.
Ms Robison noted that of the 2,273 people who responded to a consultation survey, 2:1 were in favour of Broadford as the location for the hub.
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