At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday 16 March 2017, Shetland MSP Tavish Scott asked Nicola Sturgeon to intervene on the decision made by the Board of NHS Shetland regarding patient travel. He questioned why NHS Shetland had not consulted on these changes nor assessed how the policy will affect patients across Shetland. Commenting afterwards, Tavish said: “Nicola Sturgeon came to the defence of NHS Shetland’s plan today. Shetland patients, many of whom have been in touch since Monday, will be very disappointed the First Minister did not respond to their concerns. Does she really think a 14 hour overnight ferry crossing of the North Sea in winter is an acceptable alternative to the plane for patients? "The First Minister said that clinical judgment will determine who goes on the plane. That will place our local GPs in an invidious position. They will be forced by NHS Shetland to make this decision every day. I think that is unfair. This policy has not been assessed or thought through. Nor has there been any consultation. Nor has the NHS sought to negotiate a better deal with Loganair and save money. For such a major change, that is not good enough. " “I will be writing to the First Minister to ask her to take Shetland’s concerns seriously. I was puzzled that she said she would bring my concerns to the attention of NHS Highland. They have nothing to do with this wrong policy.” You can watch the exchange here: http://www.scottishparliament.tv/Archive/Index/5314bbf0-d533-4ae7-b220-e4ba80e16b6f?parentCategoryClicked=False&pageNumber=1&orderByField=ScheduledStart&queryOrder=DESC&in=00%3A16%3A19&out=00%3A18%3A14 Please continue to share the petition site with your friends and colleagues. The page is at https://www.change.org/p/nhs-shetland-board-keep-shetland-nhs-patients-flying Thanks! Hugh