Dave Thompson MSP

They say that Bonnie Prince Charlie journeyed on the historical Road to the Isles as he fled the scene of battle in disguise but I wonder what he would make of travel to the Isles in our day and age. There is one obvious difference and that is that there are far more travel options today. You can take your pick of cars, buses, ferries and trains but this easier access brings with it the responsibility of maintaining and upgrading these various Roads to the Isles.

The notoriety of the original Road to the Isles, the A830, does not lie solely in the past, however, but in the unacceptably high motorist accident toll of the present especially between Glenfinnan, where the Prince hoisted his standard, and Lochailort. The good news is that this is now being addressed by Transport Scotland and Scotland TransServ. Last month we welcomed the news that the A830 road was to be resurfaced. This month, Scotland TransServ announced that they intend to resurface a second stretch of the notorious road, a 371 metre long section at Craiglea corner, the home of John and Jan Bryden who have fought tirelessly for the road to be made safer for motorists.

Work on this section will adopt the same routine as work on the other stretch of the A830. Work will begin on 25 March and the road will be open for fifteen minutes every two hours to allow any waiting traffic through. Working overnight means that when the tourists descend on one of the most beautiful places in the world in the Easter holidays there will be no delays.

Tourists and locals who use the Small Isles ferry service can also be optimistic about the future of the service. Recently I met with Alex Neil, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment, to discuss west coast ferry services. Mr Neil reassured me that the purpose of the Ferries Review is to see how the Scottish Government can improve the ferry services, not reduce them. In the light of concerns about the future of the small isles ferry services, Mr Keith Brown, Transport Minister, promised to visit Rum, Eigg, Muck and Canna and speak to local people before any decisions are made. He hopes to visit in the next few months.

Ensuring safe and easy travel is most important for the most vulnerable people in our communities and nobody’s life should be in danger simply because of where they live.

Recently, I wrote to the NHS about emergency neonatal transport which I thought might risk babies’ lives following an incident last month when one couple in Lochaber had to wait nine hours before their baby was taken to Raigmore. It has since emerged that one infant did die shortly after a transfer and an investigation is on-going into that.

Dr Phil Booth, the National Director of the Scottish Neonatal Transport Service responded to my letter with the reassuring news that seven out of the last nine neonatal transfers in the Highlands in 2010 and 2011 were carried out using the air ambulance service. Adverse weather was the reason why the air ambulance was not used to transfer the other two babies and it was these two cases which caused the problems. We must make sure that road ambulance transfer, when it is necessary, is as quick and as safe as possible.

I am, therefore, still determined to ensure that we minimise the problems involved in specialist transport services that have to travel from Dundee or Aberdeen and thereafter to Raigmore so I have suggested to the Neonatal Transport Service that they consider dual crews for road ambulances so the same ambulance travels the same distance but with a relief crew taking over to ensure the speediest possible transfer.

Finally, the Christian celebration of Easter is nearly upon us and I hope those of you with faith and those without all have a wonderful time.